Shipwrecked
by soiheardyoulikedpanzers
Summary: A lone pilot crash lands onto Oorai. A Girls und Panzer Fanfic. Miho x O.C.
1. Chapter 1

Quick note: things put in { }'s will be author's notes. There will be anything from explanations to fitting music.

This first chapter may make it seem like it's about something else, but trust me, It will move to GuP.

**Chapter 1: **

{sorry guys, the main character is male. (Already I can see the hate comments)}

"PIPSQUEAK! GET UP!" This was the commandant, who, as you can already tell, isn't one of the nicest people around. While he is only 2 years older than me, I already fear him. Heck, I don't even know his name. Ever since basic training, everyone has called him the commandant, and he's the only "family" I have. My mother and father both died in a car accident. My older brother, well, his luck wasn't too good either. He was a great pilot, and was my best (and only) friend I really had. He died crashing his plane about a year ago. (we still don't know the cause of the crash.) For now, I'm stuck here, on this island, where flying aircraft is the biggest sport around. Now my older brother was one of the finest pilots around, but with him gone, eyes are turning on the commandant. My brother and the commandant had a fierce rivalry before, and now the commandant was taking it out on me.

Today we got a special mission. It involved destroying a target ship for training. You see, our air combat sport involves ground attack. The aim of the game is to either destroy a ground target, or destroy a "VIP" plane (usually a bomber.) This gets quite hectic as your defending your own base while trying to destroy the opposing teams, and vice versa. Anyway, our training mission involved taking out a moving ship. As I climbed into my outdated P-40, the commandant hopped in his state-of-the-art FW-190. Take off was the usual, with the commandant first, then his second in command, flying a P-51, and another of the commandant's friends, flying an A6M Zero. Last was me, flying a P-40.

"Turn left bearing 160!"

"Roger"

"wilco"

Using my judgment, if we turned like that, we would undershoot the target. "You sure? According to my calculations..."

"SHUT UP PIPSQUEAK!"

"FOLLOW MY ORDERS OR I WILL SHOOT YOU DOWN MYSELF!"

Not wanting to be stuck in the great ocean below, I blindly followed.

"SHIP SPOTTED! 3 o'clock below!"

"Told you! the ship's right there!"

The ship looked more like an aircraft carrier than the cargo ship shown at the briefing. And it was much much larger...

"DIVE TO ATTACK!"

"Diving!"

"Weapons live!"

As I dived, I noticed something strange... The ship was a big city! parks, houses, everything. We were still diving... the ship just got bigger and bigger. The commandant dropped his bombs. the other 2 aircraft soon followed. As they peeled off, I refused to drop my bombs.. there were people living in those houses!

"Pipsqueak, why haven't you attacked yet?" {sorry if Pipsqueak sounds dorky to you.. anything else I could come up with might break the rules.}

"There are people living in that thing.. you sure this is the right ship?"

BOOM! BANG! POP!

There were explosions on the ship.

"Your turn pipsqueak!"

"I refuse."

"Fine."

The commandant turned around.

Next thing I know, My tail section was shot up and fuel was leaking out of my plane. The commandant had shot at ME!

"Meet you back at base. Next time you disobey my orders, I will shoot off your wings."

The target ship was supposed to come back to our island, but by this time, I was sure this WASN'T the target ship.

I found a big open spot and decided to crash land there.

THUMP! CREAK! The plane came to a stop on the surface.

"Well that wasn't so bad" I told myself. I opened the canopy, and hopped out. Sirens were blaring.

The ship I had landed on was HUGE. It didn't look as big from the air, but standing on it, I couldn't tell that I was on a ship in the first place. I took out my bailout kit, (It's a standard issue kit with a flaregun, 2 days worth of food and water, and a personal edition of mine, a copy of _The Art of War _and the _Dicta Boelcke.) _and inspected the damage. I would have to replace the tail section, and switching out the wheels wouldn't hurt either. The P-40 could take a surprising amount of damage. It really wasn't damaged that badly.

From the distance, I heard rumbling... louder and louder... soon it became deafening. I did what training dictated me to do. I hid in a bush. peering out from my hiding spot, I spotted a tank! even weirder was that a girl popped out of one of the hatches. The girl had short brown hair.

"Nishizumi-dono, I don't think this plane was here yesterday..."

"Let me take a look..." Another girl with short orange hair popped out of the top hatch.

"You're right! The plane does look awkwardly placed."

"It's still smoking too..."

"You should call the police. Maybe this has to do with the explosions a while ago."

"What if it's nothing?"

At this point I lost track of who was saying what. Some of the voices were coming from inside the tank as well. Good thing they didn't spot me...

BAM!

Something exploded beside me, presumably a tank shell.

I was driven out of my hiding spot.

The next shell hit the P-40. Looks like I will be stuck here for a while.

The first tank that I saw eventually spotted me.

"Where did he come from?"

"PERV!"

I just put my hands up and hoped for the best.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2:**

"Get in! It's dangerous outside!"

Not questioning the words of the girl, I cautiously climbed in the tank. Inside, it was cramped, and It's a good thing I'm used to enclosed aircraft cockpits, or I think I probably would have been gasping for air. I could barely fit.

"So... why are you here? surely you know we practice tankery here."

I didn't respond.

"You're not very talkative are you?"

"Stop it Saori. You're probably scaring him."

"Well... I'm not from here..." I guess I was shy at first. I was surprised I said a word at all. The Commandant banned all contact with anyone, so my social skills were awkward at best.

"What do you mean? We're on a ship out on the open ocean. It's hard to get in."

"That plane you guys spotted earlier, that was my plane."

"So you crashed here."

I just nodded.

We came to a stop, and I was the first to climb out. I could hear the other tankers. "Who's that guy?" was the most popular phrase. There were 4 other tanks in the building I found myself in. The building seemed like the aircraft hangar back on the island, but was much bigger. I noticed another thing, all the tankers were girls. I've always believed that tanks were crewed by men. The Commandant heavily censored everything, so it was entirely possible I have been wrong the whole time.

A few moments later a truck came by with, to my surprise, my plane. The P-40's tail was gone, and there was a hole through the engine where the tank shell went through. The bomb was still attached to the plane. (It later turned out to be a dud. I figured the commandant had defused it beforehand.)

"Hey, we still need to know your name!"

I was surrounded by all the crew members.

"uhhh... hi?..."

I was introduced to all the crew members of all teams. The teams were named after animals. The tank I was in was team Anglerfish. So the short-orange haired girl was Miho, the long orange haired girl was Saori, the brown haired girl was Yukari, and the black haired girl was Hana. (The other black haired girl was sulking around doing her own thing.)

There were other teams too. Turtle was the student council. One of them, Momo, reminded me of The Commandant. Anzu, the president, gave me a room to stay in, and Yuzu I really didn't get to meet. Hippo team was the history buffs. Erwin, an world war II know-it-all, made a remark about my P-40. She wore a tan jacket and a officer's hat.

"You know, the P-40 had great success over China with the Flying Tigers."

I responded with:

"Yea, but I'm nowhere near as good as Claire Chennault. Besides, when you go up against Focke-Wulfs or Mustangs, there isn't much you can do."

Erwin seemed impressed, but I couldn't match her knowledge of ground based warfare.

Anzu then made an announcement:

"In a few days, be prepared to go up against St. Gloriana!"


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

**** The P-40 is fixed and in flying condition. With help from the automotive club, I have fixed the engine and tail section of the airplane. While I still have to test fly it, I'm pretty sure I will be able to fly it just as good (if not better) than before my crash landing. Everyone here just seems so friendly, (with the exception of Momo, but other than the yelling, she isn't too bad.) Everyone is preparing and gearing up for the match against St. Gloriana, which I heard is a British school. Crew members are painting their tanks in many different colors, which I really don't think is a good idea. (We painted our planes in a matte finish to try to reduce the glare. These girls are painting their tanks shiny colors...) Hippo team even went so far as to put flags on their tank, making the total height of the tank around two times its normal value.

Speaking of Hippo team, Saemonza, the gunner, kinda creeps me out. Her left eye is constantly closed. I'm not sure if she's doing that on purpose or if she can't control it...

"So we've introduced ourselves, and we still don't know your name."

"Saori, your still scaring him"

"No, it's fine. Just call me Monty."

It really felt kinda weird telling someone my real name. After all, The Commandant and the rest of the squad kept calling me "Pipsqueak". Only my older brother has called me "Monty".

As they geared up for the match, I got a special task from Anzu.

"Arial reconnaissance?" I haven't done anything like that. I was strictly a combat pilot.

"Yup. we need all the help we can get."

"Isn't that against the rules?"

"Nothing in the rule book about help from the air!"

"Isn't this a girls sport?"

"Well, technically you AREN'T driving a panzer now are you?"

I went through what felt like a million "Isn't"s until I was pretty much forced to. It just didn't feel right. In our air combat sport, a spotter on the ground wasn't allowed, and now I'm supposed to act like that spotter. I smell foul play.

"One special request."

"hmm?"

"You guys don't happen to have .50 cal. rounds for a browning machine gun do you?"

"Yuzu! Could you check if we have .50 cal rounds?"

"Sure thing."

They did have the rounds, luckily for me. Strange as the only american tank they had used a machine gun that uses .30-06 rounds. I asked if they could be loaded onto the P-40.

"Sure. I don't care what you do with them."

I made a promise to myself to always fly with some sort of armament. Getting jumped by The Commandant isn't fun. While the risk was lower, I still wanted to be prepared. Who knows what might happen?

The big day had arrived. To my surprise, the rest of the team had decided to see me off. As there were still about an hour until the match started, and I needed that hour to make sure everything was working as it should. Just to be safe, (I haven't test flown it yet) I went by the checklist. Check by check. Before hitting the ignition, I instructed the girls to stay a good 10 ft away. They took their steps back, and I fired up the engine. The propeller started turning. A quick look at the instruments confirmed that the engine was working perfectly. I gave the team a thumbs-up and a salute, taxied to the runway, shoved the throttle to full, and set off.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

"Monty, can you see anything from up there?"

"Uhh, looks like you've got five tanks headed straight for you. Four Matildas and one Churchill."

"Got it. Thanks."

"You sure we're allowed to do this?"

"Don't worry about it."

Instinctively, I scanned the sky. There was a black dot, around 2 o'clock high. I really wasn't sure if it was a plane in the air, or if it was really just a speck on my windshield. I decided to let it be. For all we knew, I was the only plane in the sky.

"Anglerfish team, what are you doing?" They were moving ahead and going straight for the five enemy tanks.

"Don't worry, it's a part of the plan. We bait them out, and then the rest of the teams will attack."

I didn't question them.

Anglerfish team then moved back, drawing the St. Gloriana tanks toward our tanks. Apparently, (I'd assume this was Momo's idea,) The turtle team fired way early. This drew the attention of St. Gloriana, and they decided to flank around. Rabbit team got hit. This really wasn't looking good. (AC/DC's_ Thunderstruck_ started playing in my head.)

"There's a city a little ways from your position, I think you might be able to take refuge there."

I scanned the sky again. The black dot had grown so that I could make out wings and a tail. I accelerated, pulled up, and before I knew it I was right behind the plane in question. It was a Bristol Blenheim. A look at the insignia confirmed it was from St. Gloriana. While it was supposed to be a bomber, It wasn't flying at the correct altitude for bombing.

"Uhh, Anzu, St. Gloriana's got a plane too. What should I do?"

I could hear Momo in the background yelling, "SHOOT IT DOWN!"

"I don't know, ask Miho."

"What?" This was Saori, who was the radioman- I mean radiowoman- for Anglerfish team.

"There's another plane in the air, what should I do? It's from St. Gloriana."

The tail gunner saw me and opened fire.

"He's opened fire!"

"I don't know what to do, use your best judgement."

I took aim at the left engine, and fired. The engine of the Blenheim caught fire. The plane started to roll to the left, and then dived. A few seconds later I counted three parachutes.

"The enemy plane is down."

"Good job!"

"HIPPO TEAM IS DOWN!"

"What happened?"

"DUCK TEAM IS DOWN!"

"How'd we lose two panzers so quickly?"

I dived down to see what was happening. Anglerfish team was drawn down a street, then cornered. Turtle team shows up, and fires.

"How'd you miss!?"

Turtle team was the promptly knocked out.

"Anglerfish team, It's up to you now."

Anglerfish team did something I didn't expect. They charged. BOOM! one tank down. They turn a corner. BOOM! another one down. After a while it was just Miho vs. St. Gloriana's Churchill. Anglerfish team turned around the Churchill, and both tanks fired at the same time. A cloud of smoke surrounded both tanks.

A little white flag popped out of Miho's tank.

St. Gloriana had won.

While I did have my aerial victory, I still felt bad. First battle and we didn't win. (Flying back I had Creedence Clearwater Revival's _Fortunate Son _playing in my head.) I wonder what sort of weird punishment Anzu is going to give us...

When I landed, I was informed that I missed the "Ankou Dance". It's supposed to be extremely humiliating. I didn't have to do it. (THANK GOD!) for two reasons:

1. I didn't know how

2. I claimed the first aerial "kill" for Ooarai.

Seeing today's battle, It didn't look like we'd go far.


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5:**

Shooting down St. Gloriana's plane has caused some controversy. St. Gloriana was using the plane for recon as well, and never expected me to be there. According to the newspaper, there are no rules regarding aircraft, (and aparently the crowd at the practice game loved it) but tankery "pure-ists" insist that aircraft should be outlawed from the game, and that new rules should be in place to ban aircraft. Me being male just adds salt to the wound. Among the fiercest of these "pure-ists" is Kuromorimine School, led by Maho Nishizumi.

Nishizumi? where have I heard that name before?

* * *

I was invited to join Anglerfish team to a panzer themed restaurant that specialized in cakes. (Saori invited me. I hear she's quite the boy chaser.) Seeing as I have no plans, I decided to join them. I found the ordering system particularly interesting. One pushes a little tank which makes a cannon firing sound. That signals for the waiter. We ordered a few cakes, and they came quickly, but we didn't have much time to enjoy them before being interrupted.

"Commander"

Miho looked up. There were two girls standing there. The girl with white hair seemed to do the most talking.

"Too bad you don't have that position anymore."

"Sister?" I then realized the resemblance between Miho and the darker haired girl. I figured that the darker haired girl was Maho.

The white-haired girl then turned to me.

"What are you doing here? Shouldn't you be doing your own things?"

Learning from the hazing from The Commandant, I didn't say a word.

"Are you deaf? Mute? Both? I'm surprised someone like you could have shot down a plane, let alone fly one!"

Instead of feeling the depression that I usually feel after a yelling from the commandant, I felt anger. Not something I expected.

She turned back to Miho.

"Too bad you did what you did. Just make sure not to tarnish the Nishizumi name again."

Yukari then burst into action: "I'd like to say on behalf of Miho that she did the right thing." This was like a trigger to me. Remembering the videos of past tankery games, (I really didn't believe that it was Miho in that last game. Now I knew it was.) I snapped.

"Well, is that what you like to do? Kill people? You go around telling people that you want to preserve the art of tankery. Well guess what? If that tank crew drowned, there would BE NO MORE tankery. Miho did the right thing. If anything you should be thanking her."

Well that shut them up!

Yukari was cheering me on. "You get 'em Monty!"

They just scoffed and walked away.

"How did you do that?"

"To be honest, I really don't know either."


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6**

With the next match being against a school named Saunders, I needed time to think. The rule makers of Tankery decided to allow aircraft for only this season, as a "test". While it is still optional, I have a hunch that most schools will get a pilot anyways. It is still unknown why St. Gloriana had an airplane in the air in the first place, but since the crowd seemed to like it, they didn't get into much trouble.

I found a nice quiet meadow (Not far from where I crashed) and laid down on my back. I used to do this a lot. It's the only time I can properly think. I look up at the sky and just let my mind wander. Seeing as how Saunders is american themed, and has enough money to buy anything, I really couldn't predict what plane I would be up against. I then ran through all the tactics for any plane I might have to fight against. P-38? Get him/her into a turn fight. F4F Wildcat? Boom and Zoom. P-51 Mustang? now that would be a problem.

"Hey Monty! never expected you to be here."

Miho seemed to appear out of nowhere. I jumped a bit.

"What are you thinking about?"

"Uh, just tactics. You don't happen to know what kind of planes Saunders has, do you?"

"No."

She laid down beside me.

"How'd you know what happened during that battle back when I was at my old school?"

"I got curious and watched a few past matches. That just happened to be one of them that I watched. Your sister really doesn't seem like a nice person."

"She wasn't always that way." Miho explained her history. Turns out she comes from a tanking family. In saving her teammates, she broke a nine-year winning streak. And for that, her family hates her. To be honest, I really do feel sorry for her. To try to comfort her, I explained my own history.

"I had a brother. He was nice to me, and was my only real friend I had. After my parents died he did everything for me."

"Had?"

"About a year ago he went on a mission. Now that I think of it, It was an anti-shipping mission, quite similar to the one I was on when I crash landed here. My plane's engine wouldn't start, so I stayed at base. He never came back. That was the last time I'd seen him."

We then proceeded to share various memories, about tanking, flying, getting yelled at, and various tidbits from our lives. Turns out we had a lot in common.

"I wonder what it's like to be flying up there, alone, and getting shot at. I really don't know how you do it Monty." Never had a girl be interested in what I do... then again, I haven't been with many girls in the past.

"Have you ever heard the song _Aces High_, by the band _Iron Maiden_?" While I doubt Miho is a rock fan, It was worth a try.

{And yes, that is a real song. Look it up!}

"No... Haven't heard of it either."

"Didn't think so. Well that song pretty much sums up what it's like. Anyway, I can show you what it's like in the cockpit."

"Really?"

"Yea. As long as you promise to show me your tank afterwards."

She chuckled. "I can do that."

We got up and went to the hanger where the P-40 was stored. I opened up the cockpit and helped her in the seat. Sitting in the cockpit she just looked stunning. I never noticed just how beautiful Miho looked... Wait what? I couldn't "like" Miho in that way... could I? That's when it happened. They say love is like getting pierced through and arrow, and now I know why. The arrow goes through the heart and spreads. I caught myself staring.

"What does this do? It's the only unlabeled thing."

I broke off my gaze. "That? That's the Master Arm Switch. If you flick that on, and push that button on the stick, the guns will fire, provided they were loaded. I tend to leave it off until i'm certain I want to shoot."

She played around with the controls. I gave her a quick rundown of what everything did. I heard the door open. We both looked toward the door.

Saori decided to poke her head in. The moment she saw Miho in the cockpit and me bent over pointing stuff out, she blushed.

"Uh, when you're ready, you said we were going to eat dinner together. Mako and Hana are waiting outside. Still no word from Yukari."

Saori then ran off. (I was sure I could hear giggling, but it was very feint, so that might just be my mind doing weird things.)

I helped Miho out of the cockpit. She was about to leave, when she turned back around to face me.

"Thanks for listening. I don't think I've ever told anyone else."

"No problem. I could say the same thing to you. Thanks for listening as well."

When she left I felt a bit of an emptiness in my heart. I still couldn't believe (and refused to believe) I was in love... I shrugged it off and decided I should go get some dinner myself.

* * *

{Just in case you're wondering where I got the name "Monty", Look up the name "Bernard Montgomery."}

{And yes, I am planning a refrence to the Battles of El Alamein, so expect some conflict with Erwin.}


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7**

"FIRE!"

**BANG!**

The panzer shook backwards.

"That one missed. Try again Hana."

"Why isn't Yukari here? We need a new loader."

Yukari never showed up to practice. Nor did she show up to her classes either. Without a loader, Miho had to fill in as temporary loader for anglerfish team. Not having someone to dogfight with, Practice for me consisted of me just watching and being a judge. Currently, I was sitting on a lawn chair reading my copy of the _Dicta Boelcke_.

"Miporin, you look tired. I can be loader. You should rest."

"Actually Saori, I have an idea." Miho turned to me.

"Monty, we need your help."

"What do you want me to do?"

"Be our loader. Yukari is not here today."

"Well... am I allowed? I mean, it is a girl's job."

"It's not a competition. Besides, I promised you i'd let you see the tank." She winked.

Well, I didn't have anything better to do, so I climbed up and entered the tank at the loader's position. I grabbed a shell, and Miho proceeded to show me how to load the gun. You have to slide it in to prevent the gun from tearing out your arm. Who knew simply loading a gun could be so dangerous? I started out quite slow. Tank shells are heavy! After I got used to the weight, and got over my fear of losing a limb, I started loading faster and faster. a few more tries and I started to load the gun even faster than Yukari. Eventually, Hana needed a break, and offered for me to fill in. (Apparently, no one else wanted to be the gunner.) We exchanged positions, and I looked through the gunsight. I was used to the round gunsight of the P-40, and suddenly finding triangles was almost a complete shock to me.

"What am I supposed to aim with?"

"Use the triangles!"

"The top or the middle of the triangle?"

"I'd use the top."

A moving target soon appeared (it was a towed tank). The tank soon turned into a plane, and there I was, sitting in my all so familiar P-40, lining up a shot. Instead of moving a stick around(as I do in my plane), I cranked two knobs to move the gun around. Adjust for lead, aim high...

**BANG!**

When the dust cleared, The towed tank was on fire! I've hit it on my first try! I found myself back in the Panzer IV.

"You sure you're not a girl Monty?" The whole crew got a good laugh out of that one.

"Don't say that Saori..."

"Wow. where'd you learn to shoot like that Monty?"

Mako was quick with a reply. "I bet he read the manual. It's all in there."

I corrected her. "I just used the same lead and elevation as I would have used if I was trying to hit an airplane out of the sky. It really is no different."

To be honest, it was easier. After learning to shoot where both you and your target are going five hundred miles an hour, transitioning to hitting a slow moving target was easy.

**BOOM!**

* * *

{cue flashback}

"There's a fire on the runway?" This was the first time this had happened. I was young back then. "Someone get a fire extinguisher!" We all ran outside. Chester, who was flying a F4U Corsair, had an engine fire on the runway. Chester was a good friend of my brother. He had good morals, and had a philosophy of flying for fun. While his real passion was for the sea and sailing, he could fly just as well as he could sail, which made him a formidable pilot. Little did I know, that day was his last.

Chester tried to open the canopy. He tugged and tugged. The canopy wouldn't budge. The fire was spreading. Smoke filled the cockpit. At this point Chester had a claustrophobic attack, and with smoke in the cockpit, all I could see was his arm frantically pounding at the sides of canopy. I desperately tried to rush forward and help him, but my brother held me back.

"Don't even try Monty... It's too late now... Don't even try..."

**BOOM!**

The fire had spread and ignited the fuel tank, causing the Corsair to explode. We just stood there, without any emotion but sadness and a twinge of anger.

* * *

"Monty, wake up!"

I sat in the gunner's seat, teary eyed. The target tank had exploded. The sound of the metallic cracking and clanking and the outburst of flames afterwards was enough to trigger my horrible memory of Chester.

"Is everything alright Monty?" Miho looked worried.

I wiped away my tears. "Yea... It's nothing." I climbed up out of the tank.

"Don't even try..."


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8**

{Sorry guys, but the Saunder's match is going to be "accelerated." I don't like regurgitating what's already happened. Just know that I'll go in more detail with the Pravada and Black Forest match.}

"As I explained earlier, immobilizing their flag tank means victory for us. The same applies to them and our flag. But let's concentrate and fight this out."

The signal flare went up, and the match started. "Here we go..." I slammed the throttle to full power, and climbed. According to Yukari's little espionage mission (Turns out the reason she wasn't at practice was because she snuck on Saunder's ship. Sneaky.), I would be going up against a P-51. Seeing as how most of the action was taking place down under the cover of trees, I wouldn't be seeing anything. I decided to focus against the P-51 first. I spotted a distinctive metal flash below...

Rule 1 of the _Dicta Boelcke_: Try to secure the upper hand before attacking. If possible, keep the sun behind you.

With the sun behind me, I dived on Saunder's plane and squeezed the trigger. My tracers ripped through the P-51. I smirked. "Surprise!" The P-51 panicked and dived as well, putting me right behind his/her tail. "Rookie Mistake" I thought to myself. Whoever was flying the P-51 wasn't using it it its full potential. I gave chase. With most of my speed in the dive gone, He (or she...) was getting away. (The Mustangs had a much better engine.) The P-51 tried to zoom climb. I climbed as well. Knowing that my P-40 would stall first, I quickly lined up a shot, and fired a long burst. Parts were flying off the P-51. The P-40 began to shake, shudder, and my nose dipped down, Altimeter spinning. 4000... 3000...I recovered from the stall, and found myself surrounded with P-51 parts. I looked up. The unmistakable white circle of a parachute was above me.

"Saunder's plane is out of action."

"Good job!"

Out of the corner of my eye, I could see something rising. It looked like a barrage balloon. I dismissed it as nothing. Why would the enemy use a barrage balloon?

"Rock team is Eliminated!"

We got one? I guess we did...

I scanned the ground below me. The tanks seemed to have switched from fighting in the forests to fighting on open ground.

The majority of Ooarai was chasing the flag tank, and Anglerfish team broke off and went up onto a ridge. I spotted one of Saunder's tanks was trailing not far behind Anglerfish team.

I flicked on the mic to my radio. "Anglerfish team! You've got someone right behind you."

The Panzer IV didn't even budge. The turret aimed at the flag tank. Was my radio damaged? In a few seconds that Sherman Firefly (Thanks Yukari for a crash course on tank identification!) would knock out Anglerfish team and be in position to pick off the rest of Ooarai's tanks. I did something I probably shouldn't have done. I took aim at the Firefly and fired. While my .50 cal machine guns wouldn't be able to penetrate the Sherman, It would at least knock them off guard. My burst did just that. Anglerfish team fired, and hit the flag tank. I turned around to see the little white flag confirming Ooarai's victory.

"Ooarai Girl's Academy has won!"

Girl's academy? please...

I saw Miho and the rest of Anglerfish team climb out of the Panzer IV. Cheering and hugs commenced. I had an Idea. We used to do this back on the island where I came from. I flew very low, around 50 ft. or so above the ground, behind Miho heading toward her. Hearing the sound of my engine, she turned around. I flew right above her and did a barrel roll. I finished with "wing wagging"; a salute done by partially rolling left and right to "wag" the wings. With that done I flew back to Ooarai.

* * *

The night air was had a cool, refreshing feel to it. The street was dimly lit by a few street lamps. I checked the house number. This was the right address. I walked up to the door, sighed, and knocked. I could hear fumbling inside the house, and Saori opened the door. I needed someone to talk to about Miho... Do I like her in THAT way?

"Monty, what are you doing here? Come in! It's late."

"I just wanted to ask you something, and I think you're the person to ask."

"Sure thing! What do you want to know?"

I closed the door behind me.

"Uh... I..." For some reason I just could bring up the nerve to say something.

"Go on!"

"Ehhh... Erm..."

"Spit it out!"

"I have a girl problem!" I just blurted it out a quickly as I could. Upon hearing this, I could have sworn Saori's eyes sparkled.

"OH MY GOSH! WHO IS IT? YOU SHOULD TALK TO HER! GIVER HER FLOWERS! DO SOMETHING!" Saori was bouncing around the room.

I sighed again.

"Can I not tell you?"

"I need to know who it is before I can give advice!"

"Well I have a girl problem, and that's all I'm telling you."

"C'mon! Please! I won't tell anyone else... I promise!"

"Fine... it's... Miho..." I found it strange... for some reason I was enjoying this.

Saori's eyes sparkled some more. "You guys would make a wonderful couple! Go talk to her!"

"About what?"

"You should tell her you love her!" She giggled.

"Not going to do that."

"At least give her something! Something that caters to her interests!"

"What is she interested in?"

"That's why you should go talk to her!"

I thanked her for her somewhat helpful advice, and left. Just a few steps away from Saori's house and I bumped into Miho. What was Miho doing this late? My face felt like it was on fire.

"Hi..."

"Oh! Hi!" I guess she was just as startled as me. Something compelled me to try and explain myself.

"I was just... uh... asking Saori... about... uhh... proper radio technique. What are you doing?"

"I..." She hesitated a bit. "I have some... business to do."

I left her do her "business" and hurried home.


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9**

* * *

"I want you to shoot him down. First he strafes during the Saunders match and now he Bombs during the Anzio match. Next thing you know he's got rockets." Shiho wore a scowl. First she had to disown one of her children, and now some pilot from nowhere was tarnishing Sensha-do.

"How are we going to do that? We don't have a plane... nor a pilot." Maho was not about to suffer the same fate as her sister. She had to listen to her mother, even if it went against her will.

"Find a way. Although there is no guarantee that we will be facing Miho, in the off chance that we do, we need to be prepared."

"Yes mother."

"And one more thing."

"Yes?"

"Miho and that pilot guy seem to be getting fairly well together. Separate them. I will not allow my child to accept a pilot into Sensha-do. I hate pilots."

"But father was a -"

"Didn't I tell you never to mention your father?"

"yes mother."

* * *

Ooarai apparently had two more tanks in it's inventory, but we couldn't find them. Today the girls spent all of training looking for them. I, on the other hand, went over to Ooarai's airfield to look for a replacement to my aging P-40. While it was a good plane, and I loved flying it, I couldn't just rely on hoping for bad pilots.

The airfield was a small grassy area with a few hangars and a paved runway. Looking around, I didn't see anything, so I asked around. I asked a few people if they had seen an unused plane in any condition. One man fixing his Cessna pointed to a dark hanger on the very corner of the airfield. I thanked him and went to investigate. Inside, to my shock I found a strange airplane of flying-wing design. I quickly recognized it. It was a Horten Ho-229, my brother's favorite plane. If only my brother were still here, as he would have loved to see this thing. While the plane itself was of questionable condition, (the wings were unattached and placed next to the "fuselage") I could still probably fix it up to flying condition. I looked around for any indication of an owner, and couldn't find anything.

"I see someone has finally taken an interest in this bird!" I jumped a bit. I had thought I was alone.

I turned around to find a middle aged, poorly shaven, tall man standing right in front of me.

The man offered his hand for a handshake. I shook it cautiously.

"My name's Erich. Glad to meet you."

"Uhh... Hi. I'm Monty."

"Nice to meet you Monty. You need help fixing the plane?"

"Sure?"

We began attaching the wings and connecting various linkages. Erich and I got together pretty well.

"You have any family Monty? It's getting late. They must be worried sick."

"Well, to be honest, I really don't have a family. All my relatives passed away."

Erich to my surprise let out a hearty laugh."Guess we're equal then, my boy!"

"You don't have a family as well?"

"Yes, well, no, but it's complicated. Say, what are you going to use this plane for anyway?"

"Actually, Sensha-do."

"So you're Ooarai's lone pilot. Never knew we would meet."

"You know me? From where?"

"Look on the newspapers, magazines, you're all in there."

"Chances are they'll take away my role anyway. Sensha-do is for tanks, not airplanes."

"Sensha-do... BAH! It's just a shadow of its former self. It's all about the money now. They won't take your role away. It makes too much money for them to do that."

"What do you mean, 'It makes too much money'?"

"Ever since you came in, the number of Sensha-do fans skyrocketed. Instead of just luring in tank fans, you've pulled in the aviation crowd. More fans equal more people paying to see games, buy official gear, etc. So with you in there, Sensha-do is making even more money than before. You've opened a completely new market for them."

"And how do you know all of this?"

"My boy, that's for me to know and you to find out." Erich wore a smirk. (I really could do without the "my boy", but he seemed like a friendly guy, so I just stuck with it.)

A few hours later and the two wings were attached and working fine. Now all that needed to be done was the Cockpit. I could leave that for tomorrow. I waved Erich goodbye, and set off back to the school, where Miho and the rest of the team were hopefully waiting.


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter 10**

"And why should I go with you?"

"Miho will be there." Saori winked.

"Okay... fine... just let me do one thing."

I headed over to the airfield, where Erich was waiting. I said hi, and explained to him why I couldn't work on the Ho-229 today. The girls wanted to drag me to go shopping.

Erich let out his signature laugh. "Acceptable reason." He nudged me. "They're into you my boy! Just be forewarned: A girl can spend a whole day in one store, while a guy can't even stand ten minuets. Anyway, have some fun."

His expression changed from his usual smirk to a look of almost sorrow.

"Just to let you know, be careful around those Sensha-do girls."

"I don't understand..." Miho and the rest of the team seemed friendly enough... Is there something I was missing?

"You up for a secret?"

"Uhh, sure... I guess..."

Erich explained a bit of his history.

"I once had a family... Way back when. There was this one girl. Shiho, I think her name was... Anyway, she was REALLY REALLY good at tanks. unbelievably good. In fact, she came from a very famous tanking family. I was a pilot too ya know, and well, we got together, got married, and had two beautiful daughters. Life was looking up. Now the first daughter was pretty into tanks. Shiho taught her everything, and she was pretty good too. Now I wanted to teach the second daughter how to fly, but Shiho insisted that the second daughter learn tanks as well. One day I decided to take the second daughter up, so I took her to the flying field and did just that. She was only around five years old at the time. Man, she didn't even get airsick or anything. She just sat there, mesmerized. When we got back, Shiho got angry. She claimed I was 'poisoning her mind' or something like that. Next thing I know, I'm kicked out. Sometimes the universe just doesn't want you to have a good day."

I just stood there, shocked. But then again, hearing about someone who's also had a bad history made me feel a bit better about myself.

"Sorry for boring you with a long story... An old fart like me just needs someone who will listen. I'll assume you need to go now."

"Yea. I should probably leave now. Goodbye."

"See ya!"

* * *

The store was a big open building filled with racks of clothing.

"Remind me why I'm here again?"

"Because the whole Sensha-do team is here. Besides, we're going to the beach later."

"And why did I agree to this again?"

Saori chuckled a bit. "Miho's here."

The girls proceeded to try on various swimsuits, some that looked good, others, not so much. I was surprised at the amount of tank themed swimsuits there were. Yukari especially was into them, but slowly shifted toward military uniform themed swimsuits. Miho on the other hand just seemed generally uncomfortable, and stayed back. I really don't blame her. I was feeling a bit uncomfortable as well.

What happened next puzzled me. My eyesight first blurred a bit, then colors started blending together and twirling. Weird. My eyesight went back to normal, so I shrugged it off. It then started happening again, but this time the colors started melting and words spoken twirled in my mind. I became disoriented and couldn't understand anything. I decided I needed some fresh air, so I half wobbled half shuffled my way out of the store and went to the nearest bench, where I sat down. Outside everything seemed so bright. The intensity of the light hurt my head, so I closed my eyes. Something was telling me that I wasn't alone, so I quickly opened my eyes again to find one of the girls sitting next to me. My eyesight deteriorated to the point in which I couldn't make out facial features. I just knew that it was one of the Ooarai girls. "Monty, you feeling alright?" The words entered my head, but refused to be understood. I wanted to speak but noticed that I couldn't. I closed my eyes again.

* * *

The Commandant punched me in the stomach. "OOF!" The sharp pain reverberated throughout my body.

"What was that for?"

"Punishment for not fixing your engine." He punched me again.

"My brother will get you for this!" He punched me yet again.

"You think your brother will save you this time? He's dead. dead."

"Impossible."

"Go ahead and look. His plane is not back."

I ran to the hangars, determined to prove the commandant wrong. My brother surely will be waiting for me there.

There was a missing spot where my brother's Me 109K-4 should have been. The commandant was leaning by the door.

"Told ya!"

I ran over to my room, locked myself in, and hugged my stuffed tiger that my dad gave me. (I was only around ten at the time.)

* * *

My eyes batted open, and I found myself sitting on a bench by the beach on a perfectly sunny day hugging Miho as a child would a teddy bear. (Also coincidentally the same grip I hugged my tiger with.) My vision was back to normal, and my eyes were teary. Wow, I thought to myself. Hugging Miho felt almost pleasurable. I hugged a bit tighter.

"Monty, you're choking me."

My eyes flew open. I finally realized EXACTLY what I was doing.

"Ahh!"

My hands flew open and I jumped up as if I had touched a hot coal. I quickly wiped away my tears.

"I... I... erm..." I couldn't come up with any sort of explanation as to what happened.

"Sorry."

"You've been crying on my shoulder for the past minute. You sure you're fine?"

I just stayed quiet and walked back into the store.


	11. Chapter 11

**Chapter 11**

{long chapter :P}

* * *

"Start up already!"

The Ho-229's engines gave a whine, a few putts and quit.

"Guess you're going to have to take the P-40." Erich wasn't sure what was wrong either.

Old German engines had reliability problems. Having sailed north to reach the Pravada battlefield, the cold didn't help.

I was wearing a heavy leather jacket, a leather pilot's helmet, and thick gloves. The girls were wearing nothing more than a sweater and a short skirt. I felt a bit sorry for them, as they must be freezing. Erich told me to over-prepare. I felt a bit out of place being the only one with any sort of heavy clothing, but at least I felt warm.

The P-40 itself was also a bit over-prepared. The wheels were replaced with skis, and my bailout kit was re-stocked with three days worth of food, new flaregun rounds, and a portable stove. The plane was repainted in white, and a 500lb. bomb was slung under the fuselage. New regulations to aircraft in Sensha-do were also in place:

1. A pilot can NOT fire on the flag tank.

2. A pilot can be male (seeing as I'm male, they grandfathered me in.)

3. The aircraft used can only be in service during 1940-1945 or have been designed in that period.

4. The aircraft is only considered "knocked out" if it is out of flying condition, or the pilot bails out midair. If the plane is capable of a safe landing, it is considered of flying condition. Wherein a "safe landing" is defined as a landing in which no further structural damage to the air frame is suffered during touchdown.

5. The aircraft must NOT be specifically designed for air to ground warfare. (This was a countermeasure to Pravada's last match, where they brought in an IL-2 and completely wiped out all opposition. Good to know that I (and the Ooarai Sensha-do team in general) won't have to face off against an IL-2.)

And lastly:

6. Only one aircraft can be used per match.

* * *

I climbed up into the P-40, started up the engines, and took to the air. The match against Pravada has begun.

The match started pretty easy. We knocked out a few tanks, and they just kept on retreating.

"This seems too easy... Why are they running away?"

"Maybe because we are chasing them with our tanks?"

We kept on charging forward. I spotted a little I-16 right below me. Easy prey. I dived, guns blazing. Whoever was in that I-16 must have been pretty scared. He (assuming he/she was male) just throttled up fully and shot away. I gave chase. By this time, we were pretty low, and I had to dip my nose down a few seconds to fire off a shot, then lift my nose back up to avoid hitting the ground. The enemy pilot pulled up a bit to avoid some trees, right into my gunsight. I fired a long burst.

**DAKA DAKA DAKA DAKA!**

**BOOM!**

The I-16 was down. Maybe Saori was right. This was a bit too easy. I crested a hill to find myself above a town, where I noticed most of the Pravada tanks all buttoned down and waiting.

**BANG! **A thick black cloud formed to the right of the cockpit. Another to the left. Flak! I had forgotten about flak!

**BANG! **The plane suddenly shuddered, and I lost a bit of my aileron controls. I looked to my left. The wing was fine. I looked to my right. There was a hole where the right aileron should have been. As long as I had my left aileron, I could manage. I shot down their I-16, so I wouldn't have to do any dogfighting. Thank god for the P-40's durability! I retreated from the area as fast as I could, only to find that Ooarai's tanks had caught up to me and were beginning to crest the hill. I got on my radio and practically shouted:

"Don't go past that hill!"

"Quiet Monty. We can't understand you." Saori just seemed so calm.

I calmed down a bit and tried again.

"They've set up just beyond that hill you are currently climbing." An Idea popped into my head. "If you were to stop on top of that hill, you could pick them off easily!"

A new voice poped up on the radio:

"This is Hippo team. We would like to suggest keeping up this momentum and pushing forward." It was Erwin. I knew that if they charged into the town, they would be blown to smithereens.

"I say again. DO NOT charge into the town. They are waiting for you there."

"Rommel didn't become famous for sitting there. He charged forward and claimed most of Northern Africa! I say we charge!"

"In the Battle of Britain, the RAF adopted a defensive strategy and was able to repel German fighters and bombers while heavily outnumbered. I think we could do the same."

"Your airplane tactics won't work with tanks."

I could see Hippo team was now pushing forwards anyway. The other teams slowly followed suit. I noticed Anglerfish team hesitating a bit, then moving forward. I thought to myself, "whatever." and dived back at the town.

* * *

Miho frantically looked around. The whole team was surrounded. Perhaps Monty was right.

"All tanks! Move to the large building to the southwest!"

The tanks raced toward the possibility of some hard cover. Ooarai was getting pounded.

"They've hit our tracks!" Hippo team was immobilized. She had to do something! Mako quickly maneuvered the Panzer IV in front of the vulnerable StuG III.

"The turret's jammed!"

"Inside the building!"

The Panzer IV entered the relative safety of the building, pushing along the StuG III with it.

Miho looked up to find Monty's P-40 being battered by anti-aircraft artillery in the distance. It began to trail smoke.

* * *

The P-40 shuddered. It couldn't take much more of this punishment. Things were looking grim. I put the gear (well, skis now) down and hastily set up a landing. I hit the ground a little harder than expected, and the whole plane shook as it careened through the snow. When I finally came to a rest, A part of me wanted to stay in the safety of the plane, while another part of me wanted to leave and find shelter. Was I knocked out? I didn't hear the familiar announcement over the radio. Perhaps I should go out and inspect the damage.

I opened the canopy to be bombarded with cold air. It bit at any uncovered part of my body. I put on my goggles and oxygen mask in an attempt to try and reduce this biting sensation on my face. It provided some relief, but still wasn't as effective as my jacket and gloves. I inspected the damage, and decided that it was fixable, but it wasn't a one-man job. I needed help. The only help possible was the girls. I grabbed my bailout kit, and started the long search for them. Every time I took a step, my foot would sink into the snow to about halfway up my calf. I needed to find them, so I kept on going... and going... and going... I looked back. The P-40 had disappeared. The wind picked up and I found myself in a big white world, alone.

"Head northeast!"

Did I just hear someone? I continued along my route.

"Northeast!" It was as if the wind itself was talking to me.

I looked around. I really was alone.

A strong gust of wind hit my face and urged me to move in a Northeastern direction. "What the heck. Might as well."

I continued on in my new route. The wind settled down a bit.

This is just great. "I'm going insane... I'm going insane..." I kept muttering that to myself. I eventually got bored, so I started singing. It was an american drinking song that me and my brother used to sing together. While it was about the Korean war, and it was in English, we adopted it as a marching song anyway:

* * *

{Yet again, yes, this is a real song. Look up "Save a fighter pilot's ass" by Oscar Brand.}

"Hallelujah! Hallelujah!  
Throw a nickel on the grass save a fighter pilot's ass

Hallelujah! Hallelujah!  
Throw a nickel on the grass and you'll be safe!

I cruising down the Yalu, doing six-and-twenty per  
I got a call from the major, "Oh, won't you save me, Sir!  
Got three flak holes in my wingtips and my tanks are out of gas!  
Mayday! Mayday! Mayday! I got six MiGs on my ass!"

Hallelujah! Hallelujah!  
Throw a nickel on the grass save a fighter pilot's ass

Hallelujah! Hallelujah!  
Throw a nickel on the grass and you'll be safe!

Well, I shot my traffic pattern, to me it looked alright.  
The airspeed read one-thirty, I really racked it tight!  
Then the airframe gave a shudder, the engine gave a wheeze!  
Mayday! Mayday! Mayday! Spin instructions please!

Hallelujah! Hallelujah!  
Throw a nickel on the grass save a fighter pilot's ass

Hallelujah! Hallelujah!  
Throw a nickel on the grass and you'll be safe!

Did a split-S on my bomb run, and I got too goddamn low,  
Well I pressed that bloody button, and I let those babies go!  
Sucked the stick back fast as blazes, when I hit a high speed stall,  
Now I won't see my mother when the work's sold up next fall!

Hallelujah! Hallelujah!  
Throw a nickel on the grass save a fighter pilot's ass

Hallelujah! Hallelujah!  
Throw a nickel on the grass and you'll be safe!

Then they sent me down to Pyongyang, The brief said no attack.  
By the time that I arrived there, my wings were mostly flak.  
Then the engine coughed and sputtered, it was too cut up to fly,  
Mayday! Mayday! Mayday! I'm too young to die!

Hallelujah! Hallelujah!  
Throw a nickel on the grass save a fighter pilot's ass

Hallelujah! Hallelujah!  
Throw a nickel on the grass and you'll be safe!"

* * *

When I was done singing, I looked up. I could see a fire in the distance. I kept on pushing forward with increased determination.

And then a wail from the direction of the fire:

"NONNA! I'm sleepy..."

I approached cautiously. I soon found myself standing right in front of Nonna, Pravada's vice commander. I've seen her in pictures, but never realized just how TALL she was.

"NONNA! What are you doing? GET HIM!" This came from some sort of sled. I assumed this was Katyusha, Pravada's commander.

I took that as my cue to run. I looked back. Instead of chasing me, Nonna casually walked to a radio.

"All tanks be on high alert. The enemy pilot is on the run."

I kept running. The snow made it hard to run, and I tripped a few times, but I persisted.

I ran into one of Pravada's teams. They gave chase. My right foot got stuck in some particularly soft snow, and I had a little bit of trouble getting it out. The Pravada girls were gaining on me. I was just about to prepare to be captured, but an idea crossed my mind. I took out the flaregun and loaded it as fast as I could. I aimed it just above the pursuing girls, and squeezed the trigger.

**POP! FFFFFFEEEEEEEEEWWWWWWWWWWWW! BANG!**

That slowed them down enough to allow me to unstick my leg and continue running. I soon found myself in the same town I was shot down over, and running through the alleyways. The wind whispered some more in my ear:

"Take a left."

I obeyed.

"Turn right."

I soon ran into a tall building that looked a bit like a church. I tried opening the door. It was either locked or frozen solid. I kicked it a few times. The door wouldn't budge. I then threw my whole body into the door, and broke in.

"AHHHH!" I managed to startle some of the occupants inside.

I noticed a few girls in front of me and instinctively pointed my flaregun at them.

"Don't shoot!"

I lifted my goggles and took off my oxygen mask. I could see the whole of the Ooarai team staring at me.

"Oh... heh... hi..." I scratched the back of my head, and wore a sheepish smile. (I believe the technical term is "bad poker face")

"Monty! Oh, and you could have just come it the other way..." I looked behind them to find a large opening. Oops. looks like I could have just went around. Well that was embarrassing.

* * *

A/N: I was planning on making the Pravada match one chapter, but I didn't want it to drag for too long.


	12. Chapter 12

**Chapter 12**

* * *

"GOOD KILL!"

"Congrats Monty! Keep flying like that and you might just overtake me!" My brother had the most kills on the island.

"Who knew the P-40 could keep up with a Spitfire?"

"IT'S AMERICAN MADE, BABY!" Chester was always the loud one, with a love for american technology.

Everyone was ecstatic. I had just scored my first kill, bringing down the last plane and winning the match, and were on the trip home. The scene really was quite picturesque. The sunset made the sky a light hue of red, and my brother's BF-109, Chester's F4U Corsair, and My P-40 were all sailing in perfect formation in the light red sea of the sky. The Commandant, (Back then named Hermann) was on the ground, shot down. He must have been pouting.

* * *

The dark cold air licked at my cheek. I got up and shook myself awake from my daydream. Those times were gone now. Chester and my brother were both dead. I looked back on my predicament. The P-40 was shot up, the girls were trapped in this building, If we lose the whole school gets shut down... Life just seems to get better and better.

The P-40 was towed back to the building by Turtle team.

"Thanks Anzu!"

"No problem."

"NOW FIX YOUR PLANE! FAST!"

"Momo, calm down.. he'll fix it fast enough."

"DON'T CALL ME MOMO!"

I walked up to my plane and got to work. I recruited Hana and Saori to help me, as they weren't doing anything productive. Hana was surprisingly good at replacing the spark plugs in the engine. Her hands were a lot steadier than mine. Saori went around patching any holes on the wings, and I worked on patching up the right aileron, which was blown off from flak.

"Say, Monty, When are you going to get a move on?"

"What do you mean?"

Saori gestured toward Miho.

Hana poked her head over the engine cowling: "Who are we talking about?"

Great. Last thing I need is more people knowing about me and Miho...

"Oh... Nothing..." Thank goodness Saori was trying to keep this secret.

"C'mon! There surely must be something."

Saori glanced at me, her eyes begging for permission to tell. I just blushed and took a glance at Miho. She was sitting in a corner pondering something. I looked back at Saori:

"Not yet."

"How are you going to get her if you don't tell anyone?"

"Is it Yukari?" Hana was getting exited. It's a good thing they were whispering, or others might be able to hear.

"Hey! If you don't tell her now, you might not get the chance later!"

"But I just find that I can't."

"Then I'll do it for you!"

"Don'-"

"HEY! EVERYONE LISTEN! MONTY HAS AN ANNOUNCEMENT TO MAKE!" I immediately regret telling Saori.

All eyes turned on me. The room quieted. I blushed. "FALSE ALARM GUYS... SORRY... SAORI LIED."

The room slowly went back to doing their own thing, and I noticed Miho sitting back down and going back to her depressed state. I felt compelled to move. I slid down the wing, and went over to my bailout kit, which contained a bar of chocolate. I took it out and unzipped my leather jacket. I looked back at Saori. She waved her hand around in a circle as if to tell me to "go on." I walked right behind Miho and put my leather jacket on her back. She turned around in surprise. I offered her the chocolate.

"Chocolate?" She took it cautiously.

"Thanks."

She turned back and let out a sigh. My face caught on fire, and I was sweating buckets. I looked back up to Saori. She gave me a thumbs up.

"Miho?"

"Yes?"

"There's something I wanted to tell you." She started blushing as well. Was it possible that...

"I... I... erm... I..." The words refused to come out. Why is this so hard?

"I... err... love you..." She then shot up and threw her arms around me. I stumbled a bit. I wasn't prepared for this. I shot a look at Saori that just screamed "HELP!" , but Saori just giggled. I just did what my body told me to do. I slowly hugged her back. Miho started crying on my shoulder. It felt a bit like what happened on the beach, but in reverse. I started patting her back and stroking her hair. Anything that might calm her down.

"It's okay... It's okay..."

"I'm sorry mother!"

"It's fine... you'll be alright."

"Oh sister, please don't hate me."

"No one hates you..."

"I fight against Pravada one more time, and I fail yet again."

"You're doing fine..."

"What was I supposed to do? Let them drown?"

"You did the right thing... calm down."

* * *

Were Monty and Miho each other's pillows? Saori was confused. Every time Miho and Monty are together, it seems like one of them would have to cry or something. First at the beach, (She knew she probably shouldn't have watched, but she couldn't resist.) then here. She knew that the both of them loved each other, but they didn't know it. Right after the Saunders match, Monty came in to ask her for girl advice. A few moments later Miho shows up at her door asking for boy advice. She enjoyed being a sort of love guru, but love isn't supposed to involve crying on each other's shoulders... or was it?

* * *

Erich smiled. This was getting interesting. Sitting in the audience, and aimlessly looking in the Leopold screed giving details on the battle. As there was an intermission, the screen switched from displaying locations of the various teams to what they were doing to pass the time. Katyusha was sleeping, and the rest of Pravada were dancing and eating borscht. The screen switched to display what was happening at Ooarai. Some of the girls were scouting out locations of tanks, while others were busy with repairs. What was happening in the background? Was that Monty hugging his daughter? When he warned Monty of getting together with a Sensha-do girl, he never expected that he would be referring to his own daughter... Well, Monty's a good kid he figured, and he wouldn't mind having him as his son-in-law... WOAH! He pulled back that thought. A bit too early for that.

* * *

"Maho, promise me you'll never be like your sister." Shiho and Maho both looked at the screen with the same blank expression.

"Mother? Why do you still care? I mean, Miho was removed from the family name, right?"

"I can remove her from the family name, but in the end she still is my daughter."

That warmed Maho's heart a little bit. At least her mother still cared, albeit very little.

* * *

Darjeeling took another sip of her tea.

"Say, what was the pilot's name again?"

"Monty, I think."

"Strange... that's a British name."

"Maybe his parents were British."

"Perhaps."

"He does seem to know quite a bit of English."

Darjeeling laughed. Monty was a Japanese boy with a British name flying an American airplane for a school with predominantly German tanks.

* * *

Miho released her grip. I slowly released mine.

"Don't tell anyone about this?"

"Agreed."

"HEY! YOU TWO SHOULD KISS!" The whole of Ooarai laughed. Too late.


	13. Chapter 0 Roots (Optional)

**Chapter 0 "Roots"**

{This is where I go into more on Monty's history. It's short, and you don't have to read it if you don't want to. It won't move the plot. I just decided that I needed an explanation for Monty's English name.}

* * *

**Burma, August 2nd, 1944**

I've been shot down over enemy territory. My hurricane is destroyed, and I am writing this in captivity. While taken in as a Prisoner of War, I am locked up and being watched by armed guards constantly. I do get enough to eat and drink, usually due to the efforts of the supreme commander at this POW camp, some woman by the name of "Nishizumi". This woman has shown extreme kindness to me and all of my brethren here at the POW camp, some American, some Burmese, and some, like me, British. It makes me wonder if the nature of men is warfare, and the nature of women is kindness... Just getting a pen and paper is hard here. It feels like if I just sneeze I'll get shot. Apparently I'm lucky. Some of the stories I've heard tell of mass murders and massacres committed by the Japanese. I just want to go back home.

This war is pointless. If I do get rescued, high command will just give me a new plane and throw me back in the meat grinder. Not that I don't want to be rescued, but I feel like the whole bloody war has gone too long. Why must Britain fight here? When I signed up for the RAF, I wanted to defend Britain over the English Channel, not here in the middle of Indochina. It's too hot, I get 5 new mosquito bites every night, and I am too scared to even breathe.

Speaking of the "Nishizumi" woman, I am surprised Japan has even drafted women into their armed forces. That tells me two things. Either Japan has lost enough people to the point in which women are being drafted, or this woman is extremely skilled at something. Perhaps I'll learn later. Anyway, her kindness has kept most of us alive. When we were lined up and a Japanese soldier would point a rifle at us, she would order it down. Someone got sick? She would call in the medical officer. She even comes in every night and refills my paper and ink! If only this war wasn't going on. I would have probably visited (or even moved!) to Japan. For now, the curfew is up and the lights will turn off soon. Bloody prison.

**Burma, August 3rd, 1944**

Gunshots! I've heard Gunshots! Were they killing us off? I was scared. A few moments later I see the supreme commander jump into a tank. Perhaps that's what Japan drafted her for. Among the talks of impending doom, there is also talks of rescue, of savior. More gunshots filled the air. Next thing I know British troops start filling into the prison.

"We're gonna get you lads out of this blasted place."

When the day was over, Britain controlled this part of Burma, and we've taken some POW's of our own. Among them, the supreme commander. I walked up to her:

"Arigato" - It was one of the few Japanese words I knew. It meant Thank You.

She just smiled back. She then stated something in Japanese that I din't understand. A soldier that did understand translated it for me.

"She says that she might meet you again in a later life."

Perhaps we will... perhaps by some quirk of fate we do meet back up, even if in different lives. I surely wouldn't mind if we do.

* * *

The wife closed the old worn diary from her father. Funny how her father was fighting the Japanese, and now she was the wife of a Japanese man.

"So, what should we name the new baby?"

The wife thought for a bit.

"You should name him or her."

"I already named the first one. You should name the second."

"But I can't come up with a name."

The husband looked at the diary in his wife's hand.

"If it's a boy you could name him after your father."

"What? Monty? We live in Japan now. Why give him an English name?"

"You always said you wanted a child with a proper English name."

"I still think you should name him."

"Fine. I choose to name him Monty."

The wife deliberated for a bit, and agreed. The new baby needed some connection to his British roots.

"Monty it is."

* * *

{That was just an Idea that was floating in my head. I just had the urge to write it down. Again, it's optional and it's your choice to accept it or not. I originally named the character Monty after Bernard Montgomery, but decided to give a little backstory to it. The part about the WW2 era Nishizumi was added later as almost an afterthought, so sorry if it's overly corny or forced.}


	14. Chapter 13

**Chapter 13**

* * *

With the P-40 fixed and the enemy positions scouted out, we could finally break out of here. Only problem was, our morale was so low, nobody wanted to move. Miho tried to rally everyone up, but to no avail. She went to desperate measures. She got up, and started doing the anglerfish dance. Everyone wore a confused look, and I couldn't help but laugh. Yukari soon joined in, and then the rest of Ooarai. A representative from Pravada came in, and the dancing stopped.

"Will you surrender?"

"No. We'll fight to the end."

* * *

As the girls hopped into their tanks, I did a pre-flight check. Ailerons - Check (Well, only the left aileron. I just had to deal with flying on one aileron.) Elevator - Check. Rudder - Check. Bomb securely fastened, but not frozen on - Check. I stared at the bomb for a few moments. 500 lbs. of high explosive is going to ruin anyone's day. I made a mental note to get either the IS-2 or KV-2 first. I only had one bomb, so I needed to make it count. I heard the tank engines roar, and they left the safety of the building. I was alone for now. I climbed into the cockpit and did an equipment check. Goggles de-fogged, oxygen mask delivering oxygen - Check. I noticed my leather flight jacket and gloves were missing. Miho must still be wearing them. Oh well, she probably needs it more than me. I went through startup:

Batteries - On

Tank selector switch - Fuselage tank

Fuel pump - On

Canopy - Closed and locked

Cowl Shutters - closed

I moved the mixture lever up and flicked the ignition switch down to "START"

I hit the engine primer. The propeller started to turn. The engine let out a few pops and the engine came to life in a cloud of exhaust smoke. I let the engine warm up for a few minuets, and taxied to the longest street in the town I could find.

Flaps - Down.

"Here goes!"

I eased the throttle forward. The plane lurched forward. As I picked up speed, I pulled the stick back and the plane leaped into the air. My P-40 was flying once more!

Flaps - Up

Landing Gear - Up

I got a call from the radio:

"Sorry guys, we could only take care of two of their tanks. The rest is up to you." Anzu was down.

"Got it. Thanks."

"WE'RE RELYING ON YOU, NISHIZUMI!" Momo must have been pissed.

To lighten up the mood, I picked up the radio myself.

"This is Monty. Air support is in the air and awaiting orders."

I got instructions to help protect the flag tank, while Anglerfish and Hippo team went after their flag tank.

The IS-2 got in position behind our flag tank. I could see flashes coming from the barrel of the cannon. I did a split-S and aimed my gunsight at the IS-2. Should I use the bomb? I think I'll save it. I pressed down my guns. Tracers flew into the IS-2, but bounced off. Instead of slightly pausing like the firefly in the Saunders match, the IS-2 just kept on going. Another flash. Rabbit team was out. Flash! The char 1B that housed the new team ground to a halt. First battle and they were knocked out. I felt a bit sorry for them. I looked out the canopy to find that no one was left to protect our flag tank. Now was the time to use the bomb. I maneuvered into a dive head-on from the IS-2. My thumb went to the bomb release.

"Come on... hold on just a few more seconds..." I was talking to myself.

Flash!

Was I too late?

I pressed down the bomb release and shoved the stick back.

**BOOM!**

* * *

"IS-2 is down!"

"WHAT!? IMPOSSIBLE!" Katyusha was furious! Some no-name newbie school had just taken out Pravada's pride and joy.

**"Ooarai Academy is Victorious!"**

Katyusha couldn't help but shed a few tears. Nonna was already by her side, handing her a neckerchief.

"I'm not crying!"

* * *

I flew back to the Ooarai airfield and landed, coaxing the airplane down. I hopped out to an abundance of cheers and congratulations.

Erich was there to meet me.

"You did well!"

"Thanks."

After a bombardment of questions, I called it a day and was about to head home when Erich stopped me.

"Oh, I found the problem with the Horten."

"What is it?"

"A fuel pump wasn't working properly, and some of the valves were clogged. I fixed it, so we could probably give it a test run tomorrow."

"Thanks!"

"One other thing."

"Yes?"

"You have permission to date."

"What do you mean?"

Erich just winked and walked off.


	15. Chapter 14

**Chapter 14**

* * *

"Hey, I hear Kuromorimine is looking for a pilot. We think you're up to the challenge."

The Young man looked at his fellow aircraft mechanics, and thought for a bit.

"Nah, I won't be able to."

"What do you mean? You've beaten all of us in a dogfight! At least try out!"

He picked up the sign up sheet. He looked back at his friends, picked up the pen, and signed his name up. He whispered to himself:

"We meet again... Let's see how much you've grown."

* * *

Having won the Pravada match, we were now going on to the finals. Everyone was training overtime, and even I found some training to do. Turns out Erich owns a F-86 Sabre, which he pilots much better than me, and we always have mock dogfights. Usually he wins, but it gave me some valuable experience in dogfighting with the Horten. It's so quirky. If you hit the rudder, the plane will be swaying left and right almost uncontrollably. I think Erich put it best:

"Treat her well, and she'll be one hell of an airplane. Treat her bad, and she'll kill you before you even know it."

He also gave me one other tip:

"Use the flying wing design to your advantage. She [the Horten] can do many things a plane with a fuselage can only dream of doing."

Once he caught me talking to myself about Miho:

"What are you talking about?"

I caught myself and immediately stopped.

"Oh, nothing."

"I heard you. Who is it?"

Sensing defeat, I spilled it out.

"There's this girl, Miho, and well, I think I love her..."

"Are you not trying to get her?"

"Well, I mean, even if we do get together, she always talks about how strict her mother is... I'll never get past her... let alone her father..."

"I think you and her father will get along very well."

"How do you know?"

He did one of his signature smirks.

"Shiho Nishizumi. Look the name up."

Nishizumi - That's Miho's last name. And Shiho was Erich's ex-wife... so that means...

"I say again, you have permission to date." He patted me on the back, and left me alone.

* * *

As the day of the battle loomed closer, we trained harder. The Panzer IV now had side skirts and a bigger gun. The Panzer 38t was converted to a Jgpanzer 38t, and we got two new teams: Anteater, who met over an online tank game, and Leopon team, who were the automobile club. They got a crash course in tankery, and we set off to the battlefield. The match was in two days, but we arrived there early and checked into a hotel. The tanks would take time to be transported there, and the Horten couldn't be flown there, as Erich wanted to do something to it. What could he do? Four cannons were more than enough to take down any plane I would go against.

The hotel was a big building, overlooking the battlefield. It had around twenty stories. Anzu planned out everything, and split the rooms. The rooms were split by teams, so that each team was on a different floor. Anzu announced who was bunking with who:

"Saori and Hana get room 314"

"Mako and Yukari get room 316"

Anzu let out a big smile, and continued.

"And since anglerfish team has an odd number of people, Monty will bunk with Miho. Room 315."

Miho and I looked at each other. This was going to get awkward. We made our way toward the rooms. I unlocked the door, and walked in. To complicate matters, there was only one bed. What was Anzu planning anyway? There were two doors that let to Yukari's room and Saori's room. (our rooms were next to each other.) We kept them open.

* * *

Saori couldn't help but smile. The two lovers were in the same room together. Yukari didn't seem too happy about it though.

"I wanted to be with Nishizumi-dono..."

"No... you don't get it... Monty likes Miporin."

"Well I like Nishizumi-dono too."

"No, he REALLY likes Miporin."

"I also really like Nishizumi-dono."

Yukari just wasn't getting it. She tried a different approach:

"Miporin also likes Monty back."

"Well she likes everyone."

Yukari still wasn't getting the message. Saori didn't know what to do but shout:

"MONTY LOVES MIPORIN AND MIPORIN LOVES HIM BACK!"

She realized what she had done and covered her mouth.

* * *

"MONTY LOVES MIPORIN AND MIPORIN LOVES HIM BACK!"

The shout came from Saori's room. I blushed and looked away from Miho. She did the same. If Miho likes me back... my heart pounded harder at the thought. I wondered if Miho felt the same. It was getting dark, and Miho broke the ice:

"Well, we should get ready for bed I guess..."

After we had changed and washed up, we climbed onto the bed. Did Anzu know I had feelings for Miho? Did the whole of Ooarai know? I thought back to what Erich said: "You have permission to date." It seemed as if everyone knew.

Miho and I were on opposite sides of the bed. It just felt weird to go any closer.

"Good night."

"Good night."

I turned off the light on my side, and she turned off the light on her side.

* * *

"You two sleepyheads should wake up! Even Mako's up." Her hand suddenly shot up to her mouth in surprise. "Miporin! Monty! Aren't you guys a bit too young for that?"

My eyes batted open and I looked to my right. Saori was next to the bed. I felt pressure on my chest, and looked down. I found Miho lying prone on my body. She was just waking up as well.

"I knew you guys loved each other, but I didn't know you guys loved each other THAT much."

I finally figured out what we looked like we were doing. My face caught fire and I started sweating.

"NO... IT'S NOT WHAT YOU THINK! WE'RE NOT LIKE THAT..."

"Come on Monty, what were you doing last night?"

"NOTHING! I SWEAR!" My brain was running in panic mode.

Saori gave me a strange look.

"REALLY! I HAVE NO IDEA HOW SHE GOT IN THIS POSITION!"

"yea... right..."

Miho caught on and blushed.

Hana poked her head in:

"Oh... hehe..."

Yukari poked her head in as well.

"Nishizumi-dono! When we're sleeping together, why don't you do that to me?"

All eyes went to Yukari. I let out a "What?"

Miho retaliated:

"No! Yukari! You're making this situation worse!"

Mako finally walked in the room:

"What's all the fuss about? Just get up so we can go."

We obeyed, not wanting to prolong the situation.

* * *

A/N: So this was an Idea that I was playing around with in my head, and decided it was funny enough to add as a chapter. Black Forest battle coming soon.


	16. Chapter 15

**Chapter 15**

I sat in the hangar, alone, admiring the unique design of the Ho-229. Erich had mounted racks on the wings. The horten could now carry twenty four R4M rockets, modified for Anti-Tank use. These would be useful. I patted the horten on the wingtip:

"Keep me safe, Okay?"

* * *

"PANZER VOR!"

The match started. I remembered what Erich told me earlier: "Go for the big game first. The rest of the team will deal with the rest."

I saw flashes from the forest down below.

"Anteater team is down."

I really felt sorry for them. First match and they were gone within the first few minuets. I started a spit-s and aimed for the biggest flashes. I let out a salvo of six rockets, and pulled up.

* * *

"We've lost our JagdTiger and our Elephant."

"What?"

Maho had done her research. She knew the P-40 could carry up to a 1,000lb. Bomb, but that wouldn't be enough to take out two of her most armored tanks in one hit, would it? She opened her hatch, and looked up to find a triangular aircraft going almost vertical, with two distinct contrails coming from two jet engines.

"What is that?"

* * *

I lined up for another shot. I pressed the button down again, releasing another salvo of six. This reminded me a bit of the Pravada match... it seemed too easy...

I scanned the air. So far no sign of any sort of opposition in the air.

* * *

Maho was furious. She had just lost a Panther and a Jagdpanzer 38t. That plane needed to be taken out of the air, and fast. Where was the pilot she recruited? In try outs he was the best there was, and now, he's just sitting back doing nothing.

* * *

I looked to my right to find a BF-109 in my brother's markings flying in perfect formation with me. I did a double take. The pilot inside the BF-109 pointed upwards. I blinked and the BF-109 was gone. Strange...

Tracers flew all around my cockpit. I pulled up to meet this new threat. Next thing I know I'm toe to toe with an Me-262, the world first jet fighter. How Kuromorimine got one, I don't know. Then again, how Ooarai had a Horten Ho-229 is another mystery. I fired a burst of cannon, and turned to give chase. The fight evolved into a world war I era turning dogfight. We both coaxed our planes to turn tighter. The Me-262 then pulled up.

"Stupid move" I thought.

I pulled up as well, shoving the throttle to full. As the plane lost speed, It began to lose some of it's stability. The horten shook and it's wings started to sway back and forth. I couldn't get a clear shot, and if it persisted, I would get into a stall before he would. I cursed the flying wing design and pulled away back to level flight.

**BANG!**

Cannon shells ripped through the Horten. I scanned the gauges. A fire warning light turned on. My right engine was on fire, and I had an Me-262 on my tail. This was no rookie pilot. Where did Kuromorimine get a pilot like this? If I didn't do something fast, I would be blown out of the sky. I remembered the advice Erich gave to me:

"Use the flying wing design to your advantage. She [the Horten] can do many things a plane with a fuselage can only dream of doing."

I slammed on the rudder, using the flying wing's instability to my advantage. The plane swayed side to side so the Me-262 behind me couldn't keep up. It would take a whole lot of skill just to keep the gunsight on me, let alone correct for lead and manage your throttle. An added bonus was that I slowed down considerably. The Me-262 overshot me. I fired a burst of Cannon.

* * *

Miho was wondering how Monty was doing. She heard the sound of rockets, and then the Pop of a white flag before, but it turned silent now. She poked her head out the hatch and looked up to see two fireballs in the sky.

* * *

I hit the Me-262 by pure chance. The Horten was swaying too wildly to actually aim. I saw the pilot of the Me-262 bail out, and I thought to do the same. After all, my right engine was still on fire.

I grabbed the canopy and tugged. It wouldn't go back. I tugged again, and the canopy still refused to budge. Erich's words reverberated through my head:

"Treat her well, and she'll be one hell of an airplane. Treat her bad, and she'll kill you before you even know it."

I looked back at my right engine. It was trailing smoke, and I could see flames licking the engine mount. I didn't treat her bad, did I?

Thoughts of death started popping into my mind. I tried my best to keep them out, but as the plane started to wing over and dive, I could hear my brother's words at the time of Chester's death:

"Don't even try Monty... It's too late now... Don't even try..."

I frantically shoved the stick back. That pulled the nose up, but I hit a high-speed stall and entered a flat spin.

"I'm done for..." I slowly released the grip on the control stick, and slumped back on my seat. It was useless to try and save myself.

I took a look at my altitude. 1000 feet, 900 feet, 800 feet, 700 feet... The plane began to self-stabilize and the fire was put out like the candles of a birthday cake. A twinge of hope crossed my mind. 600 feet, 500 feet... I tried pulling the stick back a little more gently. The Horten's nose crept up slowly. 400 feet, 300 feet, 200 feet... "COME ON!" 100 feet... I closed my eyes and hoped for the best.

* * *

**BANG! **

The firing stopped for a second. Black Forest noticed it too. A ground shaking "Bang" noise followed by an eerie silence.

"Yukari, does that sound like any tank gun?"

"No... None that I know of. It sounded more like an impact than a gun to me"

"What do you mean, impact?"

"You know, like something hitting the ground." She smashed her fists together to illustrate her point.

A call from the radio:

"The match has been temporarily suspended. Please cease fire and await further instruction."

An ambulance sped through the battlefield, sirens blazing, followed by a fire truck.


	17. Chapter 16

**Chapter 16**

A/N: I was actually originally planning to end the story last chapter, but a new idea popped into my mind, and it won't go out. Enjoy! This is going to be a long chapter. The first part is written in 3rd person, while the parts after it revert back to 1st person.

* * *

As the ambulance and the firetruck roared past, Miho looked in the direction they were going. A tall plume of smoke rose from the treeline. Miho asked around if all the teams were okay. Each team responded that they were fine. Lastly came Monty.

"Monty, status check."

...

"Monty?"

...

"Perhaps we should check what happened." The rest of the crew nodded in agreement. "Mako, Forward!" The Panzer IV lurched forward toward the source of the smoke.

**BANG! pop!**

"Kuromorimine school has won!" The whole crew was shaken, and took a while to realize what had just happened. Yukari spoke first:

"There was a cease fire! They can't shoot us!" Yukari then popped out of her hatch to stare right in the face of a smoking 88mm cannon of a King Tiger. Erika wore a smirk.

"The game's over. Nice try Oarai."

"They called a cease fire! You weren't allowed to shoot!"

"Likewise, you shouldn't have moved. In the event of a cease fire, tanks are to keep stationary and await further instruction."

Miho had no intent of joining in on the argument. She climbed out of the tank and continued on foot. She reached a clearing and was bombarded by the intense heat. She lifted her hand up as if to block against a blow, and pressed on. The shouts of the EMT's reverberated through her head. The heat started to make her light headed.

"Get that canopy open!"

"Water pressure normal sir!"

Miho looked around. There was a flaming wreck in the middle, and an obvious skid mark where the plane hit the ground and continued going. The two wings of the plane detached halfway through the skid mark, and rested about 20 feet behind the flaming wreck. The firefighters had connected a hose to a fire engine and was drenching the wreck with water without success. The medical personnel were standing there by the ambulance doing nothing. Miho shouted:

"What happened?" A firefighter looked up and shouted back, "What are you doing here? Get back to your tank. We have the situation under control."

When the firefighter stated that they had the situation under control, the fire, as if angry, flared back up. The firefighter had to run back to help his comrades.

A voice out of nowhere:

"What are you guys doing!?" A young man wearing a flight suit not different from Monty's emerged from a bush. The same firefighter that stopped Miho then turned his attention to him.

"Please stand back."

The young man got angry. "Why are you using water? Water only spreads the fire! Don't you guys have foam?"

"We weren't given foam. Now stand back or I will have to call up the police."

The young man just pushed away the firefighter and took measures into his own hands. He ran up to the fire engine and snatched a fire extinguisher. He read the side, then raced to the flaming wreck as he pulled the pin. As he neared the wreck, the fire extinguisher burst to life and covered the wreck in some sort of white substance. Miho took that this is what he meant by "foam". The fire started to dwindle down, occasionally flaring back up, as if it was a dying animal in its final stand. The fire died off as the fire extinguisher emptied. The firemen just looked on in awe. The young man dashed up to the cockpit, and was able to manually pull off the canopy of the wreck. It became apparent to Miho that this was Monty's plane. The young man pulled out a dark figure from the cockpit and laid him down beside the smoldering wreck. The dark figure lay limp, as if a mannequin. Miho shuddered at the thought that this was Monty. It couldn't be. He entered the match so confident, and now it just seemed wrong that he was gone. She just couldn't wrap her head around the concept that Monty ceased to exist. Perhaps it was another person.

Meanwhile, the young man reached down his fingers below the dark figure's chin, presumably to find a pulse. He searched around, found what he was looking for, and sighed. A few seconds later, his face sank and his expression turned to worry. His hand started frantically searching again, but with no success. The ambulance crew at this time took over, loading the dark figure on a stretcher and into the ambulance, which sped away. By this time, a large crowd of Oarai and Kuromorimine alike surrounded the scene. Erika pulled up in her King Tiger, along with Maho, in her Tiger. The rest of Anglerfish team arrived on foot.

Erika spoke first:

"Commander, I have won the battle for you." Yukari of course couldn't have this, so she objected. "YOU WON BY CHEATING!" Erika and Yukari returned to their original argument, only broken by the young man.

"You don't understand do you?"

Erika responded, "The thing is, we won, so you shouldn't be sulking like that. Besides, you did your job and you took out their plane before he could wipe me or Maho out."

The young man paid no attention to anything Erika said.

"I think I'll quit flying."

Maho's reaction was almost as if she was offended herself.

"Don't say that Saburo, You love flying. It's your nature."

The young man looked wearily at the girl atop the Tiger tank.

"I don't think you get it either. I have just killed my little brother."

* * *

I woke up to find myself in a very brightly light white room. I found I couldn't see with my left eye. I tried to move my right arm, but something was restricting its movement. I could move my left arm fine though. My whole body ached, and my vision was blurry. I felt like I was in a dream.

"Wake up sleepyhead."

I looked up. I could see my brother looking down on me.

"I thought you were dead."

"I thought the same. Rest now, and we can talk later." He ruffled my hair for a bit and left the room. I let my head drop back down on my pillow, (It became apparent I was on a bed) and quickly fell back asleep. These hallucinations are getting worse... Unless that wasn't a hallucination...

* * *

I awoke again to find myself in the same room. This time there was a table to the right of me filled with various flowers, balloons, and cards. I looked down to find my right arm in a cast and sling. A nurse walked in the door.

"Oh, so you're awake."

"Hi." I wanted to wave, but I couldn't move my right arm.

"That was some crash you got in there. It's almost a miracle you survived with only a broken arm and leg."

She took out some medical instruments and proceeded to give me a check-up.

"Everything seems fine. That was some crash you got into. It's almost a miracle you got away with what you have."

Wait, so it's a miracle I got "only" a broken arm, leg, and apparently damage to my left eye? What kind of crash did I get into?

"We had an optometrist look at your bad eye. I'm sorry to tell you this, but chances are your left eye is going to be permanently blind."

So my left eye is now useless... well I mean, it could be worse, seeing {pun not intended} as how my right eye seems untouched. But if I ever want to pilot an airplane again, only having one eye might lead to trouble.

My sad thoughts were interrupted by a phone call. The nurse picked it up.

"Hello? Yes he's awake... okay... okay..."

"You have a group of visitors waiting to see you."

"Who are they?"

"A group of girls claiming to be your teammates."

"Sure. Let them in."

The nurse left the room, and Anglerfish team burst in.

"Monty!" Yukari ran up to me and gave me a hug.

"Ow... you're crushing my broken arm..."

She released her grip.

"Come on Yukari, that's Miporin's job!" Saori giggled.

Miho blushed, and changed the subject. "Glad to see you're okay."

"To be honest, I'm pretty shocked I'm okay as well."

"So, how are you feeling?"

"Actually kinda bad... I just learned that my left eye probably won't ever see anymore."

"Oh... that's sad... at least you can still see right?"

"Yeah."

"Well, I do like the eyepatch." Miho let out a laugh. It was obvious she was trying to lighten the mood. Perhaps I was over exaggerating the whole thing. After all I still could see fine.

"So, did you guys win?"

"We won!" Yukari burst with excitement.

"Good job then... too bad I wasn't there to celebrate it with you..."

"You did fine. Without you, I don't know how we were going to deal with those tank destroyers." Miho explained.

"It's nothing really." I rubbed the back of my head with my only good arm.

"So what happened?"

"Well, with you crashing and all, they called a cease fire. We decided to check up on you, but when we moved, Erika shot us and knocked us out. We technically weren't allowed to move on a cease fire, but then again Erika wasn't permitted to fire either. At first it was a Kuromorimine victory, but the judges ruled in our favor as they deemed shooting on a cease fire more dangerous than moving."

The conversation went on with a flurry of congratulations and thanks. It was abruptly ended by two people walking in the room that no one expected. Why they came to see me, I really don't know.


	18. Chapter 17

**Chapter 17**

* * *

Shiho and Maho walked in the room. Yukari was practically up in arms, while Miho had a sort of admiration in her eyes. Everyone else wore a confused look. Maho walked straight up to me, and offered her hand. I shook it cautiously.

"Good match."

"Thanks?" I wasn't sure what to make of it. Maho seemed like a cold person, but now a gesture of kindness? Strange.

"We'd like to challenge you to a rematch."

"Rematch?" I pointed to Miho. "That's the person you'd want to ask."

"Nope. We want a rematch against you."

"But why me?"

"It's not anything official. Just a friendly match."

"With only me?"

"No, you will have the rest of the team with you."

I took a quick look at Miho. She shrugged back.

At this point, my brother burst into the room. Brother? I thought he was dead...

"Sorry I'm late Maho, my work's been dragging on too long."

He took a glance at me.

"Oh my god you're alive!" He then practically tackled me on the bed.

"I thought you were-"

"We can talk later. Anyway, I see your flying has improved. You even got an upgrade to that old piece of crap P-40."

"Well, to be honest, it's brought me through many a match."

"But that Horten... I felt kinda guilty shooting that thing of beauty down."

"So you were the one in the 262?"

"Yup. Was scared that you'd suffer the same fate Chester did."

"AHEM!" This was Shiho, who had a stern look on her face, as if she was about to scold a child. Miho and Maho were looking at each other as if longing for something.

"Oh, right... sorry." My brother climbed off the bed and stood at attention.

They explained something about how they wanted to test something out. Something about the feasibility of aircraft and a new tank of theirs. Well, it was a friendly match, and Miho agreed as well. So we accepted. We scheduled the match to be "whenever Monty gets better". Shiho and Maho both walked out of the room. We talked for a bit more, and then my brother and Anglerfish team left. I thought for a bit. Why would kuromorimine want a rematch against me? What new things are there to test? How is my brother still alive? I dozed back to sleep.

* * *

**2 Weeks Later**

My arm had healed, while my leg had healed to the point where I could kinda hobble around with crutches. If I was to have a second match against Kuromorimine, I needed a plane. The P-40 had limited anti-ground capability. The Horten was in 3 parts. We started an operation to find a new plane for me, quite similar to the one where we found the B1 and the Tiger P. We were about to set off, when a visitor arrived. He wore a slouch hat and shorts.

"G'day mate!" He tipped off his hat. This guy had quite the noticeable Australian Accent.

"My name's Robert, but you can call me Rikki."

"Hello Rikki... uh... Do I.. err.. know you?" This meeting seemed so abrupt. I felt quite awkward.

Rikki let out a laugh. "I'm the guy you shot down. Think way back. The Blenheim? St. Gloriana?"

That's when I noticed a St. Gloriana pin on his slouch hat.

"So you were the one in the Blenheim?"

"Sure thing. I swear, you scared the crap out of our tail gunner."

I let out a laugh. "You guys scared the crap out of ME."

"Anyway," Rikki continued, "St. Gloriana has received word that you are up for a rematch against Kuromorimine. It also seems like you are in desperate need of an aircraft."

"How do you know all of this?"

Rikki replied with a smirk, and continued.

"Never fear, for the royal air force has the answer. St. Gloriana would like to give one of our aircraft to Oarai."

One of? They have multiple?

"Which one?"

"A De Havilland Mosquito mark eighteen. The Tsetse if you would prefer."

The Mosquito "tsetse" was a De havilland Mosquito fitted with a quick-firing 57mm anti-tank gun. Why would St. Gloriana want to give THAT to us?

"I know what you're thinking. Just take it. With some of the things you're going to be going against, I'd advise you to accept our offer."

The unmistakable sound of a merlin engine droned on overhead. Everyone looked upwards.

"That should be it right there."

The Mosquito circled a few times, did a high speed pass, and finished with a perfect 3-point landing on the grassy field ahead of us. A hatch on the side opened, and a ladder popped out. A pilot along with a familiar face climbed out of it. Rikki waved. The pilot waved back. He walked calmly up to me. He wore similar clothing to Rikki, but wore a headset instead of the slouch hat. Rikki introduced me.

"So Monty, meet Keith. Keith, meet the one guy you failed to shoot down."

"Hey, you try being a tail gunner. It's hard."

"You two... Always with the bickering. You boys show Monty around the plane." This was Darjeeling, who also arrived with Keith. She turned to me. "Do you happen to know where Miho is?" I pointed to the garage, and she walked off.

"You boys do this, you boys do that... ugh. It's getting quite repetitive." Keith stated in a mocking tone.

"I know! Not that we don't want to show you around, Monty, but It's just the way she sounds so arrogant." Rikki agreed.

"Anyway," Keith said as he offered his hand, "I'm Keith. If you haven't noticed already, Rikki is an Aussie, and I'm a kiwi."

"What?" I was confused. I had never heard the term "kiwi" before.

"Rikki's from Australia. I'm from New Zealand."

That would explain the accents. They proceed to show me around the plane, tell me its features, faults, and various tactics to use. Rikki's face then morphed into a smirk that could only mean one thing: Mischief.

"Are the guns loaded by any chance?"

Keith's face had the same smirk of mischief.

"You bet."

Rikki turned to me.

"So, Monty, is there a firing range anywhere around here?"

I showed them the Range we use to practice gunnery. Keith started up the engines and taxied his way to the firing line. He shut the engines down, and armed the weapons.

"You sure Darjeeling's going to hear this? We're pretty far." Keith shouted.

"This thing is loud. You can count on it." Rikki replied.

I have no idea why it would matter if Darjeeling hears or not, but it's the biggest gun I've seen on a plane, and I was eager to see it fire. I had no objections.

"All right then! Fire away!"

**BANG!**

The whole plane lurched back a few feet.

**BANG!**

Yukari came running up, followed by the rest of the Oarai Sensha-do team, and Darjeeling.

"Huh? Where's the tank? I could have sworn I heard a Quick-Firing six pounder gun..." Yukari had the most confused look on her face.

Rikki was quick to respond. "You, Ma'am, have a good ear! Keith! Fire it again!"

**BANG!**

"You guys put a tank gun on a plane!? Wow!"

"Yup! Designed to take out German U-boats, but I'm sure it can be used effectively against a tank."

Darjeeling didn't look anywhere near as happy and Yukari was. "You boys... I'm trying to have a decent tea time conversation and you are making such a loud racket. So rude!" She turned to Miho. "Anyway, as I was saying, ever since you left, Kuromorimine seemed to change. Tighter rules were enforced, and they started focusing on heavier and heavier armor, instead of blitzkrieg like tactics. It seemed like they were scared of losing yet again. Their latest purchase prompted a meeting of the sensha-do high brass."

"What kind of purchase would have to make a rule change?" Miho also wore a similar confused look to the one Yukari had earlier.

"Kuromorimine had bought a Maus." Everyone's faces were struck with either horror, or awe.

"The rulemakers were afraid that the Maus would be unstoppable. Saunders even requested permission to buy a T28 super heavy tank. No other school had a gun that could even hope of penetrating the armor. That's when we looked to the west. There's a very prominent sport quite like sensha-do in the Americas, but focusing on aircraft instead. With aircraft, schools could finally have enough firepower to destroy heavily armored vehicles. It seemed like a perfect solution. But there was a problem. In the west, this air combat sport was completely dominated by males. There were a few females, but none of them were very good, and the better of them quickly turned into sex symbols." She turned to me. "That's when you arrived. Monty, you were the first taste of piloting in Sensha-do. Upon hearing of this, I quickly ordered a plane and sent it into battle against you. You promptly shot it down. The rulemakers were unsure of this at first, and Kuromorimine was fiercely against this, but the people seemed to enjoy it quite well. Soon the gender of the pilot didn't matter. It made money. Kuromorimine was of course unhappy, so a compromise was made. Aircraft can't be specifically designed for ground attack. The Pravada match with the IL-2 just proved that fact. This rematch they challenged you to? They just want to test the feasibility of the Maus in the presence of an aircraft."

The St. Gloriana crew soon left, and I had a new plane. Now all I had to do was wait until I got better.


	19. Chapter 18

**Chapter 18**

I found myself lying down on that same grassy field I was at before the Saunders match, looking up at that same blue sky. With the Mosquito's manual in my hand, I found myself aimlessly flipping through it, staring at the diagrams and pictures as if a magazine. My mind wandered. If I was to use the Mosquito "tsetse" as a ground attack plane, then wouldn't it be smart to load some bombs or rockets? Historically it didn't carry rockets, but surely I could modify it so that it did. The bomb bay was still intact, so I could load up some bombs too. I could save some weight on sacrificing some fuel. I wouldn't need a full tank as I wouldn't be flying for very long. My thoughts were interrupted by Miho walking in on me. She greeted me with a simple "I had a feeling you were going to be here." and plopped down next to where I lay.

"You could probably have Mako read that manual for you." We both laughed.

"I don't know if it's the same with tanks, but with planes, As long as you know the basics of flight, you can fly pretty much anything. All I need to know is what I can't do with the airframe and where all the switches are, and I can fly the plane. I don't think I need Mako to learn it for me." I explained.

"I guess it's the same with a tank, but at least you don't have to deal with training new crew members." Miho retorted.

"Oh, that reminds me. I need a navigator. The Mosquito has a crew of two."

"Well I can ask around. Everyone seems to be happy in their current position."

The conversation shifted to lets say, a more sensitive topic:

"Miho, if you don't mind me asking, do you happen to know what happened to your father?" Her eyes seemed to gloss over. She took a while, and finally answered.

"I really don't remember him that well. He left when I was around seven I think. He was mostly gone on 'business trips', and when he was home, him and my mom would just keep arguing over various things. Some days he would try and calm himself down. Other times he would just exit the door without a word. He would always come back though. One day I guess he decided he had enough, and just walked out the door. If I remember correctly, after about a month with him gone, my mom decided to try and remove any trace of him." Her eyes returned to normal. She blinked a few times. Where was Erich? He surely would have come up to me by now.

"Have you ever wanted to meet him again?"

"Once or twice. I doubt he would want to see me again. It's an event that I've pushed to the back of my head. Say, where are your parents?"

It was my turn. "Well, to be honest, I don't even quite remember what my parents look like. For all I know, my team mates back on the island are my only family. I guess you could say my brother is my parents. All I know is that my parents are dead."

We just sat there, in that grassy field without saying anything. I had nothing more to say. I thought that this would be a perfect time for a kiss, but quickly pushed the thought out of my head. Miho was the first to break the silence:

"It's getting kind of late. Care to go to dinner?"

"Well, I've got nothing to do. Sure." My mouth blurted out the words before my mind even processed what was happening. Next thing I know we are off to the nearest restaurant.

* * *

"You guys went on a date!?" Saori was ecstatic. Seeing as how most of our tanks are under crewed with the exception of the panzer IV, It was decided Saori was to be my navigator.

"I wouldn't call it a date... we just ate dinner together." Naturally, Saori just wouldn't take any of it.

"'Just ate dinner together'? Yeah, that's a date."

"Anyway," I tried to change the subject. "You already know how to operate the radio, so I guess it's just basic flight training for you." Saori sensed my discomfort, and decided to play along, although I knew she wanted to know more about the dinner.

"So what is basic flight training? You're the pilot, so why do I have to go through training?"

"You don't necessarily need to know how to fly, I just need to know how much stress you can take."

"Stress?"

* * *

Saori and I were cruising at a comfortable five thousand feet in the mosquito. Both my face and hers were covered in an oxygen mask.

"And why do I have to wear this mask? It's uncomfortable!" Saori complained.

"We're below ten thousand feet, so you don't have to wear it, but the microphone inside it is what matters. This is how we communicate without the sound of the engines drowning us out." Our voices were joined by a tinge of static.

"So, you ready for stress testing?"

"Uhh, sure I guess."

"Alright then. This is what's known as 1G, or just regular gravity. I see you are holding up just fine." I joked.

I banked the aircraft and put it in a somewhat light turn. "2G's. You're fine."

I leveled off and banked yet again, but this time I threw the aircraft into a tighter turn. I noticed Saori was just about to pass out. I leveled out.

"7G's... not too bad."

"Monty, I don't feel so good."

I took that as she wanted to land. I set a course back to the airfield, and made a landing. I had to physically help Saori out of the Mosquito. She really was quite queasy. And to think she's going to have to endure a whole match with people firing back? I had a feeling Saori was going to have a hard time.


	20. Chapter 19

**Chapter** **19** (Wow, never knew I would get this far!)

* * *

"In 1940 I could at least fly as far as Glasgow in most of my aircraft, but not now! It makes me furious when I see the Mosquito. I turn green and yellow with envy. The British, who can afford aluminium better than we can, knock together a beautiful wooden aircraft that every piano factory over there is building, and they give it a speed which they have now increased yet again. What do you make of that? There is nothing the British do not have. They have the geniuses and we have the nincompoops. After the war is over I'm going to buy a British radio set - then at least I'll own something that has always worked."

—Hermann Göring, 1943.

* * *

It was only five hours before the start of the match. Having prepared early, all I had to do was sit around and wait. With the girls all loading up their tanks with shells and fuel, I was casually sitting down next to my mosquito. Four machine guns, one 57mm cannon, eight rockets, and two five-hundred pound bombs. The mosquito was a fearsome beast, or should I say, bug. While the "tse-tse" didn't historically carry rockets, I sacrificed some fuel and put them on anyway. The mosquito, painted in a green camouflage pattern on top with a sky blue bottom, was eagerly waiting to prove itself in battle. I could not say the same about me. Saori was visibly nervous too, but for some reason I felt like she was nervous in more ways than one. She walked off to the panzer IV.

"Hey man, long time no see." I looked up to find my brother peering over me.

"Hi! Shouldn't you be on the other side preparing your plane?"

"I already prepared. They claim they don't need me, because they've got an 'upgrade'. Really it's a downgrade if you ask me." My brother sat down beside me.

"upgrade?"

"You'll see. Anyway, How's it been?"

"Pretty good. You?"

My brother laughed. "Could be better. Kuromorimine is a really strange place. Sometimes I'm scared just to breathe." He looked up. "De Havilland Mosquito mark eighteen. Not a bad choice."

"Well, it wasn't really a choice, but I'll take it."

We stayed silent for another while. There was so much I wanted to ask him. How was he not dead? Surely someone can't disappear for a year. My brother started to grin, and continued.

"So... how are the girls over at Oarai?" Yup. This was my brother alright. He's slightly perverted at times, but not on the scale of say, Saori.

"The girls?"

"You know what I'm talking about. Hanging around all those girls and not one perks your interest?"

"Well, It's crazy over here too. Let's see, you have one seemingly with high blood pressure, one actually with low blood pressure, one tank fanatic, one boy chaser, three video game nerds, a whole bunch of freshmen, some car racers, one lazy girl and one servant. Then there's the four girls that take history way too seriously."

"So there's no one of quality?" Correction. Perhaps my brother is on the scale of Saori.

"Well there's two, maybe three if you don't mind the lazy girl. The freshmen might be okay if you don't mind the age gap." At this point, thinking of Miho, I started blushing. Heh. Maybe I was a Saori also.

"And the names of the two normal girls?"

"Hana, and uh... Miho." For some reason, I had trouble saying Miho's name.

"And the lazy girl?"

"Anzu." I pointed her out. She was sitting on a lawn chair watching Yuzu and Momo do most of the work.

"Eh, she doesn't look too bad."

"Anyone good at Kuromorimine?"

"Heh, none of them I find are that good. It's like learning tanks turns them into tanks. They don't have feelings. They turn into war machines built of solid steel with a big gun, and extremely hard to penetrate." We both chuckled a bit at the innuendo.

My brother's face morphed into a more serious, solemn look. "Monty, well, the real reason I'm here is well, I feel like it's time for you to know."

"Know what?"

"Well, ever since mom and dad died, I couldn't stay in school. So I went out to find a job. I couldn't find one. I needed to care for you, and so I dropped out of school and started working very simple jobs. Now, the pay wasn't enough, but we got through. That's when I heard of flying for sport. If we won the tournament, we won a lot of cash, which we needed. I signed up, and met Chester there. Surely you remember Chester."

"What about him?"

"He provided some financial aid, even selling one of his boats to get us equipment. At one point he even offered us housing, but well, you know what happened to him before we could get anywhere. Anyway, with Chester, I didn't have to worry about financial problems, and focused on learning to dogfight. Having learned dogfighting, we were able to enter into the tournament. You were of age, so we started training you. With you trained up, we scraped up whatever money we had and bought you the cheapest aircraft available: A P-40. We entered with you in the tournament and tried our best."

"But I don't remember me being in any tournament..."

"I told you it was training. Didn't want you to feel nervous. As I was saying, halfway through the tournament, well, Chester died, and losing him meant we had to pull out. I had spent all my time and energy on learning to dogfight, which now seemed useless, and we were running out of money. One day I decided I had enough, and under-fueled my plane. Next mission, knowing I was under-fueled, we set off towards the ocean. You were having engine problems, so I couldn't take you with me. I planned to crash my plane in the ocean, and if I somehow survived, I would surely drown in the middle of the ocean. Less fuel ensured I wouldn't come back. As my engine went dry, Hermann [The Commandant] left me for dead, and returned to base. When he was out of visual range, I started to dive. Then I thought of you, and thought that I couldn't just leave you behind. I didn't want to kill myself anymore. But I didn't have enough fuel to fly back home. I thought I was doomed, regretting my premature decision. I opened my eyes to find a girl's academy ship sailing right under me! I figured that I might be able to land there, so I did."

"So that's how you're still here."

"Yup." He checked his watch. "Oh! I better get back to Kuromorimine. Maho's gonna get angry."

Just before he left, the buzzing sound of an engine loomed overhead. Me and my brother both instinctively looked up. It was a Fieseler Fi 156 "Storch". What it was doing here I don't know, but it was descending. My brother left, and the Storch lands quite near me, comes to a stop, and a familiar face climbs out. It was Erich, the man from the hangar. He waved. I waved back.

"How's it been, my friend?"

"Good. you?"

"Could be better."

I gave Erich a little tour of the mosquito, and he gave me tips on low altitude flight, telling me that I would need it. We climbed out, and he helped me with a walk around of the plane, checking that the munitions were stored securely and the mollins gun was loaded properly. It really turned into Erich exploring the mosquito inside and out, like a child would explore around a new playground. Erich took a break, and looked in the direction of Kuromorimine. He froze.

"Is that... her?"

"Who?" I looked up in the same direction. In the distance, was Shiho. Erich turned pale, and started to look uncomfortable. Erich was about to move, but then Shiho looked back. Erich froze yet again. They locked eyes, and Shiho started walking towards us. Erich then seemed to return to normal, as if nothing had happened.

"So, back to pre-flight checks?"

"Sure." I knew there was something up though.

He ordered me to open the bomb bay. I climbed up into the cockpit, and obeyed. By the time the bomb bay doors opened, Shiho was patiently waiting right beside the Mosquito. Erich was poking his head inside the bomb bay, making sure the two bombs were secure, but taking his time and obviously stalling. It seemed to me that Erich was ignoring Shiho. Shiho got impatient, and tapped Erich on the shoulder. Erich jumped and turned to face Shiho. This can't end well. Shiho and Erich stood there, staring at each other with the same exact gaze. Shiho reached out her arm and gently touched Erich's face, as if she was touching a hurt animal. Erich turned away and blushed.

"I thought we agreed to stay out of each other's lives." Erich spoke first.

"I am afraid that may not be possible anymore." Shiho wore this expressionless face.

"I'm sorry, okay? You win. Both of the children are very prominent tankers. Now if you will, I do have to get back to what I was doing."

"I'm surprised you're here. Anyway, while you are here, I would like to invite you back to Kuromorimine."

"It's ended. I think we established that the relationship won't work anymore."

"It's not about that. It is in Kuromorimine's best interests to obtain a flight instructor, seeing Sensha-do's new route."

"Best interests? Just lighten up. Life's not just about winning tanks you know."

"I assure you, if you take the job, you will be paid well."

"Pay?" Erich scoffed at the notion. "I don't care for pay. I've been making just enough money to get me by, and I'm still happy. I don't need any sort of fancy job."

Shiho seemed to break. As if she were taking off a disguise, she bawled out, "Look, I'm sorry as well. I just hope you may want to return. Perhaps I've been too strict. Things didn't turn out well, but that doesn't mean we can't try to fix those things. I knew you always wanted a son. Now while we weren't able to have everything, I've noticed that I just want you back. Remember when we just had Maho? We were perfectly happy back then. I miss those times. Perhaps we can go back to that." Hearing Shiho say that was completely alien to me. She just seemed so cold, and now she was on the brink of tears. I thought back to what my brother said about Kuromorimine girls turning into tanks. Erich had just softened up even the toughest of armor.

That seemed to be what Erich wanted to hear, but he respond in a calm tone:

"I'm afraid I can't accept that offer." He gestured toward me. "I've found myself a son that I have to care for." Me? Erich's son? Well, I guess if things turn out well with Miho... Bit early to be thinking about that.

Shiho seemed to understand. Maho then walked up next to Shiho.

"Is everything alright mother?" She looked at Erich for a bit. "Who's that?" Her face turned to surprise. "Is that fath-"

Shiho regained her composure, seemingly ashamed to show any emotion.

"Yes, I am fine. Are the tanks ready?" Shiho promptly changed the topic.

"Yes mother."

"We are ready whenever you are ready." How fast Shiho returns to her expressionless face is a wonder to me.

* * *

I found myself sitting in the Mosquito with Saori right next to me. Both with oxygen masks on, and goggles covering our faces. I took a look out the left window, checked for anything obstructing the prop, shouted "CLEAR ON THE LEFT!" and fired the left engine's ignition. I instructed Saori to do the same. She yelled out "CLEAR ON THE RIGHT!" as loud as she could, and I fired up the right engine.

With both engines gently purring, I taxied to the end of the runway. "You ready?" I asked Saori. "I'm ready" was the response. The purring gradually changed into a mighty roar as I brought the engines to full power. The mosquito sped forward, and gently lifted into the air. I lifted the gear up, and told Saori to radio Miho on the ground.

"This is Mosquito team. We are in the air." Mosquito team not only fit in the animal theme, but was the actual name of the aircraft.

Seeing how we were in the same battleground as the original match, we used the same tactics.

"Hey, Saori, look." I pointed out the window. "There's our team." All the tanks were moving in a perfect "V" formation. We flew right over them. Everything just seemed so perfect.

"We're getting shot at!"

"We're taking fire!"

Yet again was a frantic dash to the cover of the forest. Next came something I really didn't expect. Smoke. The girls used smoke to cover their position, and by the time it cleared, they were already halfway to the top of a large hill. Kuromorimine in pursuit. At this point I was pointlessly circling the hill, just watching events unfold on the ground. I could see Saori was just as bored as I was, so we requested permission to engage and dived down. Once we got permission, I opened the bomb bay and prepared to drop both 500 lb bombs. As Kuromorimine was in a large clump, those bombs would do a ton of damage. I waited for the large clump of tanks to be just in front of me, and released the load.

**BANG!** **BOOM! **The whole plane shook on impact. Perhaps I went a little too low. Saori seemed a little uneasy.

"You sure we didn't damage ourselves?"

"We're fine." I reassured her.

"Well it seems Kuromorimine is not." Saori was straining her neck trying to look backwards. I pulled up, leveled off, and took a peek myself. Even Oarai had stopped firing, seemingly just as in shock as our enemy. I could see why. A good half of their tanks were either knocked out or flipped over. The tanks lining the borders of the blast radius had their tracks blown off. Instead of using the opportunity to finish Kuromorimine off, they used the opportunity to escape. That was when the tracers arrived. They whizzed over our heads, signalling me to the plane behind us. I did what the mosquito does best - speed away. Full throttle, as low as possible.

The tracers kept whizzing over our plane, but no hits yet.

"Where are we going!?" Saori was frantic. She could take fire in a tank, but in aircraft, she seemed a bit uneasy.

"I have no idea!" I retorted.

A loud PANG! noise shook the plane. Whatever was behind us had just zeroed us in. I pulled up into a near vertical zoom climb, throwing Saori and I back into our seats. If it was a single engined fighter behind me, there was no way I could get away without altitude. Well really, I was in a bad position to begin with. I leveled off in a low cloud bank, hoping I could lose the pursuer in the clouds. I doubled back, diving again to fly low to the ground again.

**WHIZ!** More tracers. The cloud trick didn't work.

"Monty, there's something I need to ask you." This was Saori, who apparently got over her airsickness.

"What?"

"Well, before the championship match, I promised to the team that I would get myself a fiance if we won, and, well... we won."

"So...?"

"I was wondering, if things with Miho don't go so well, will you be my fiance?"

"WHAT!?" What was I supposed to say? I mean, I always viewed Saori as a friend, not a potential love interest. I stopped jinking the mosquito around. The tracers started whizzing again, and a few pop sounds told me we were getting hit. "DAMNIT!" I pulled a hard left turn.

"Was it something I said?"

"No, but couldn't you have found a better time?" I pulled a hard right turn.

"Well, we are alone and together. For all intents and purposes, this is a date."

What was I supposed to say? Yes and then I am obligated to... well... marry Saori. No and I get the feeling that I would crush her hopes. I made a compromise in my head.

"Look, I'm sorry, but I don't want to be your fiance right now." I couldn't see through her goggles and mask, but I could tell she was a bit disappointed.

"Expected just as much. At this rate I'll never get a guy."

"Here, I'll help you find a guy."

"Really?"

"Sure. Now can we focus on the task at hand now?" If we were on the ground, I probably wouldn't have this annoyed tone in my voice.

"Okay."

* * *

**A/N:** Sorry for yet another cliffhanger, but this really is getting a bit long for my standards.


End file.
